Growth and Ecophysiological Responses of Fraser Fir (Abies Fraseri) Christmas Trees Along an Elevational Gradient

Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) Christmas tree production is a $100 million dollar/year industry in North Carolina, but the future of these trees may be threatened by predicted global climate change. To evaluate how this species will respond to climate drivers associated with warming, I studied growth and ecophysiology of Fraser fir Christmas trees along an elevational gradient from 664 to 1228 m. Bud-burst occurred 6 days sooner, new shoots ceased elongation 10 days sooner, and trunk growth ended 8 days later at low elevations than at high elevations, indicating a lengthening of the growing season. Capacity for photosynthesis under standard conditions did not decrease with elevation, but did as needles aged. Diurnal patterns of gas exchange under ambient conditions were measured 3 times during the 2014 growing season, which showed that photosynthesis tended to peak earlier in the morning at low elevations, and that daily carbon gain was lowest at low elevations, primarily due to high temperatures above 30 degrees C. As climate change progresses, higher cloud ceilings, increased evaporative demand, and higher temperatures will further reduce growth and ecophysiological functioning at low elevation Christmas tree farms, but middle and high elevation farms may benefit from a longer growing season

The Affairs of Boston in the North Carolina Backcountry during the American Revolution.

The purpose of this body of work is to explain the development of revolutionary ideology at the regional level, utilizing the backcountry counties of North Carolina from the earliest migration of white settlers through the ratification of the Federal Constitution in 1788. The North Carolina backcountry offers an important case study for the regional development of Revolutionary activity and ideology for a number of reasons. The backcountry was a region in its political, social, and economic infancy. As the region developed, so did the Revolution itself. This work will not define a single political ideology or theme, rather it traces the day to day interactions that backcountry inhabitants of all ethnicities had with those in power at the local, colonial, and later federal level. This work concludes that what pushed inhabitants to support, or oppose the Revolution, was grounded in local issues regarding land ownership, and political and social control within the region itself. The North Carolina backcountry began building a society that worked for their interests in the 1760's and that goal was achieved in the establishment of the Federal Government in 1788

Developmental and stylistic consistency in selected choral works of Felicia Donceanu (b. 1931)

The music of Felicia Donceanu (b. 1931) is well known by music scholars in Romania. Donceanu's work has won numerous accolades including honorable mention at the International Composition Competition in Mannheim, Germany, in 1961, the prize of the Union of Composers and Musicologists of Romania seven times between 1983 and 1997, and the George Enescu prize in 1984. Donceanu's colleagues regard her Romanian-language art songs to be among the finest examples of the genre. Donceanu has composed for nearly every instrumental genre, but solo vocal and choral compositions comprise the majority of her output. Paula Boire discussed Donceanu's art songs in the four-volume text, A Comprehensive Study of Romanian Art Song, but Donceanu's choral works remain largely unexplored. Donceanu's first choral compositions date from 1968, and her choral oeuvre includes more than forty compositions written over several decades. Despite this, she considers dates of composition to be irrelevant and has stated that her works neither exhibit stylistic development nor fit into creative periods. Analyses of five representative choral compositions: "Inscriptie" from Trei poeme corale (1968), Rodul bun (1982), Ritual de Statornicie (1987), Tatal nostru (1990), and Clopote la soroc (1996), reveal this consistency of style as it occurs in Donceanu's choral works

Title IX compliance at two-year colleges : an analysis of perceived barriers and strategies

Although Title IX legislation has been in effect since 1972 and has created unprecedented positive change on intercollegiate athletics, educational institutions have still had difficulty meeting the basic requirements set forth by Title IX and ensuring gender equity in their athletic programs. Additionally, specific research has been largely limited on Title IX compliance issues focused exclusively on two-year institutions and the unique nature of these programs. The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the perceptions of two-year college athletic administrators regarding efforts surrounding Title IX compliance. The study identified perceived levels of compliance to Title IX within two-year college athletic programs as well as effective strategies for and barriers against Title IX compliance efforts within these programs. Findings were analyzed by respondent and institutional variables identified in previous research as potential influencers of Title IX compliance efforts including athletic administrator gender, availability of scholarships, presence of intercollegiate football, longevity of athletic program, athletic operating budget, and presence of a formal booster organization and/or formal external media agreement for athletic teams. Senior athletic administrators (N = 191, 32% response rate) from the National Junior College Athletic Association and California Community College Athletic Association completed the Two-Year College Title IX Survey. Results demonstrated an overall favorable perception regarding current compliance for respondent institutions (M = 8.1, SD = 2.4 on a 0-12 scale) and a common set of strategies for and barriers against Title IX compliance efforts. Study participants on the whole perceived the inability to attract female student–athletes along with unclear compliance guidelines and a lack of centralized training and support as key issues with meeting Title IX requirements. Similarly, participants perceived the importance of formalized program assessment tools, clearly communicated and understood external compliance standards, and enhanced focus on attracting and retaining female athletes as top strategy options. Institutions without football (M = 8.23, SD = 2.26) reported higher average levels of compliance than those with football (M = 6.85, SD = 2.48, p = .006). No significant differences by institutional variable were shown for compliance strategies, suggesting a common group of potential recommendations irrespective of institutional characteristics. Female athletic administrators indicated significantly higher levels of agreement for barrier scales Leadership (lack of female representation in leadership positions: Mm = 2.05, SDm = 0.67, Mf = 2.57, SDf = 0.85) and Regulations (complexity and generic nature of Title IX regulations: Mm = 2.27, SDm = 0.63, Mf = 2.68, SDf = 0.75) than did male administrators. Additionally, institutions without athletic scholarships demonstrated higher average agreement for barrier scales Unavailability (inability to attract female student-athletes: My = 2.31, SDy = 0.70, Mn = 2.75, SDn = 0.66) and Leadership (My = 2.03, SDy = 0.69, Mn = 2.34, SDn = 0.77) than scholarship–granting schools. From a theoretical perspective, the study provides insight into the unique nature and diversity of athletics programs at two-year institutions to include the framework from which they operate. Practically, study results identified a common set of strategies and barriers associated with Title IX compliance that could be beneficial to the gender equity efforts of two-year college athletic programs, irrespective of institutional profile

Echo and instrument

These poems are motivated by grief that began in infancy, when my biological mother gave me up for adoption, and continues in adulthood. The collection is a record of my attempt to process this grief. With no memory of the biological family, the adoptee accesses these experiences through imagination instead. The term ghost kingdom refers to the place where the many imagined versions of the family and self, both biological and adopted, exist within the adoptee. Both the term and these poems are a way to give parameters to a loss that has often felt infinite in its unknowns

Crystallization of phosphono-CheY from Thermotoga maritima

An analog to the active form of the signal transduction protein CheY is produced, purified, and crystallized herein. The analog, which was named phosphono-CheY, is synthesized to mimic the in vivo active form of CheY known as P-CheY; P-CheY only has a half-life of ~30 seconds, making it extremely difficult to study. P- CheY is produced by the phosphorylation of an aspartate residue on CheY by the histidine kinase CheA. Subsequently, P-CheY binds to the flagellar motor protein FliM and switches the flagella’s rotational direction. P-CheY becomes dephosphorylated by the phosphatase CheZ (in E. coli) or the phosphatases CheC/D, CheX, FliY/N (in T. maritima) to change the flagella rotation back to its previous state. The binding and release of P-CheY from FliM causes the bacteria to exhibit periods of smooth swimming and tumbling motions which drive the bacterium out of harsh environments and into nutrient rich ones; these events define bacterial chemotaxis. phosphono-CheY is synthesized in order to replace the labile P-O bond in P-CheY with a stable P-C bond; this will allow for crystallographic data and binding assays to be performed without degradation of the protein. phosphono-CheY is produced by reacting CheY with phosphonomethyltriflate (PMT) in the presence of 3.0 equivalents of triethylamine and 125 mM Ca2+. Typically, this reaction will result in 45-70% conversion of CheY to phosphono-CheY, meaning a purification step must be performed subsequently. Purification was successful using cation exchange HPLC with a 50 mM sodium acetate buffer at pH = 5.3. The gradient was run from 0 to 11.7% mobile phase B over 47 minutes and pure phosphono-CheY eluted at 31 minutes and CheY at 23 minutes. Crystallization trials modeled after those for unmodified CheY from T. maritima were applied and diffraction quality crystals were grown in wells that contained the following: PEG 3400 (26%)/100 mM HEPES (pH = 7.0)/.2 M (NH4)SO4/15 mM MgCl2, PEG 3400 (28%)/100 mM acetate (pH = 4.5)/.2 M (NH4)SO4/15 mM MgCl2, PEG 4000 (26%)/100 mM HEPES (pH = 7.0)/.2 M (NH4)SO4/15 mM MgCl2, and PEG 4000 (28%)/100 mM acetate (pH = 4.5)/.2 M (NH4)SO4/15 mM MgCl2

Multidimensional kinships : Black and Indigenous environmental thought

Multidimensional Kinships examines work by six Black and Indigenous women authors (Sarah Winnemucca, Hannah Crafts, Natasha Trethewey, Linda Hogan, Tiana Clark, and Lehua Taitano), paying particular attention to how the authors theorize interpersonal and environmental relationships. Multidimensional Kinships builds on the foundational understanding that Black and Indigenous kinships have long been a threat to the state and thus targeted for extermination and yet these women continue building kinships with one another and the land despite state interventions and violences. This project redefines the environment as relationship, as demonstrated through the chosen texts. These works’ Indigenous and Black women writers theorize the environment as a kinship formation, that is, a type of relationality encompassing environmental, economic, familial, and spiritual modes of Black and Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Further, these writers establish environmental relationalities by exploring how being in and of a place or separated from it affect family structures, land ownership and tenure, spiritual relationships and many other aspects of Black and Indigenous women’s lives. This project illustrates how Black and Native women’s texts use kinship-building in multidimensional ways, such as (re)mapping space and engaging in actions unseen by the colonial gaze, to work toward goals of Black liberation and Indigenous resurgence

Barley grain (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan content:effects of transcript and sequence variation in genes encoding the corresponding synthase and endohydrolase enzymes

The composition of plant cell walls is important in determining cereal end uses. Unlike other widely consumed cereal grains barley is comparatively rich in (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan, a source of dietary fibre. Previous work showed Cellulose synthase-like genes synthesise (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan in several tissues. HvCslF6 encodes a grain (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan synthase, whereas the function of HvCslF9 is unknown. Here, the relationship between mRNA levels of HvCslF6, HvCslF9, HvGlbI (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan endohydrolase, and (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan content was studied in developing grains of four barley cultivars. HvCslF6 was differentially expressed during mid (8-15 DPA) and late (38 DPA) grain development stages while HvCslF9 transcript was only clearly detected at 8-10 DPA. A peak of HvGlbI expression was detected at 15 DPA. Differences in transcript abundance across the three genes could partially explain variation in grain (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan content in these genotypes. Remarkably narrow sequence variation was found within the HvCslF6 promoter and coding sequence and does not explain variation in (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan content. Our data emphasise the genotype-dependent accumulation of (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan during barley grain development and a role for the balance between hydrolysis and synthesis in determining (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan content, and suggests that other regulatory sequences or proteins are likely to be involved in this trait in developing grain.Guillermo Garcia-Gimenez, Joanne Russell, Matthew K. Aubert, Geoffrey B. Fincher, Rachel A. Burton, Robbie Waugh, Matthew R. Tucker, Kelly Housto

Plant-mediated effects on mosquito capacity to transmit human malaria

The ecological context in which mosquitoes and malaria parasites interact has received little attention, compared to the genetic and molecular aspects of malaria transmission. Plant nectar and fruits are important for the nutritional ecology of malaria vectors, but how the natural diversity of plant-derived sugar sources affects mosquito competence for malaria parasites is unclear. To test this, we infected Anopheles coluzzi, an important African malaria vector, with sympatric field isolates of Plasmodium falciparum, using direct membrane feeding assays. Through a series of experiments, we then examined the effects of sugar meals from Thevetia neriifolia and Barleria lupilina cuttings that included flowers, and fruit from Lannea microcarpa and Mangifera indica on parasite and mosquito traits that are key for determining the intensity of malaria transmission. We found that the source of plant sugar meal differentially affected infection prevalence and intensity, the development duration of the parasites, as well as the survival and fecundity of the vector. These effects are likely the result of complex interactions between toxic secondary metabolites and the nutritional quality of the plant sugar source, as well as of host resource availability and parasite growth. Using an epidemiological model, we show that plant sugar source can be a significant driver of malaria transmission dynamics, with some plant species exhibiting either transmission-reducing or -enhancing activities

Severe early onset preeclampsia: short and long term clinical, psychosocial and biochemical aspects

Preeclampsia is a pregnancy specific disorder commonly defined as de novo hypertension and proteinuria after 20 weeks gestational age. It occurs in approximately 3-5% of pregnancies and it is still a major cause of both foetal and maternal morbidity and mortality worldwide1. As extensive research has not yet elucidated the aetiology of preeclampsia, there are no rational preventive or therapeutic interventions available. The only rational treatment is delivery, which benefits the mother but is not in the interest of the foetus, if remote from term. Early onset preeclampsia (<32 weeks’ gestational age) occurs in less than 1% of pregnancies. It is, however often associated with maternal morbidity as the risk of progression to severe maternal disease is inversely related with gestational age at onset2. Resulting prematurity is therefore the main cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity in patients with severe preeclampsia3. Although the discussion is ongoing, perinatal survival is suggested to be increased in patients with preterm preeclampsia by expectant, non-interventional management. This temporising treatment option to lengthen pregnancy includes the use of antihypertensive medication to control hypertension, magnesium sulphate to prevent eclampsia and corticosteroids to enhance foetal lung maturity4. With optimal maternal haemodynamic status and reassuring foetal condition this results on average in an extension of 2 weeks. Prolongation of these pregnancies is a great challenge for clinicians to balance between potential maternal risks on one the eve hand and possible foetal benefits on the other. Clinical controversies regarding prolongation of preterm preeclamptic pregnancies still exist – also taking into account that preeclampsia is the leading cause of maternal mortality in the Netherlands5 - a debate which is even more pronounced in very preterm pregnancies with questionable foetal viability6-9. Do maternal risks of prolongation of these very early pregnancies outweigh the chances of neonatal survival? Counselling of women with very early onset preeclampsia not only comprises of knowledge of the outcome of those particular pregnancies, but also knowledge of outcomes of future pregnancies of these women is of major clinical importance. This thesis opens with a review of the literature on identifiable risk factors of preeclampsia