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Plan To Support Grains Industry Development 2009-2012, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Grain and other field crops published reports

The Plan to Support Grains Industry Development (‘the Plan’) recognises that Western Australian agricultural industries are integral to the economic wellbeing of regional and rural communities. The Plan promotes a progressive and profitable grains industry through modern best practice services and research to enhance continuous improvement in farming and supply chain practices.

The Plan has been developed to align with the Government of Western Australia’s initiatives, strategies and tactics for ‘making every hectare count’ (see Appendix 1) and with grains industry needs as identified by industry stakeholders during a series of consultation forums. These industry needs will be addressed in …

Sustainable Development Extension Plan (Sudex): Community Mobilization Through Proactive Participation And Synergistic Alliance To Alliviate Poverty And Achieve Sustainable Self Sufficiency, Stephen Forbes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation describes a sustainable development extension plan (Sudex Plan) to help communities in developing countries achieve Goal 1 of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Goal 1 focuses on reducing poverty and hunger by 50% by the year 2015, but all the MDG are interrelated and one can not be achieved without considering the others, and to attain any is an empty accomplishment without ways to ensure that they can be sustained and continuously improved with the means to pass on the information, knowledge and lessons learned from community to community, generation to generation. The Sudex Plan is …

Symbiotic Effects Of The Fungus Glomus Sp. On Chromium(Iii), Chromium(Vi), And Lead(Ii) Uptake By Mesquite (Prosopis Sp.): A Novel Method To Remediate Heavy Metals, Jack A. Arias

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The indiscriminate disposal of lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr) containing wastes has resulted in a detrimental impact on environmental health. Lead and Cr are in the EPA priority list due to their degree of toxicity on humans, animals, plants, and other living organisms. The removal of toxic wastes involves technologies that are expensive, sometimes incomplete, and could represent health hazards. In addition, site restoration after contaminant removal encompasses time and technological resources. Phytoremediation, the use of plants alone or associated with microorganisms, represents a potentially cost-effective option in the long term management of contaminated sites. Various plants known as "hyperaccumulators" …

Salsola Kali (Tumbleweed): A Possible Biomonitoring Device For The Detection Of Airborne Heavy Metals, Tenoch Benitez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Vehicular congestion generates particulate matter and contaminants such as lead, cadmium, copper, chromium, nickel, and zinc which have been detected in the U.S.-Mexico border region. To overcome the inconvenience of expensive sampling techniques, scientists started to assess air quality by using bioindicator plants, a technique called biomonitoring. Biomonitoring is an inexpensive and environmentally friendly approach to determine inorganic contaminants at trace levels. The purpose of this project was to determine the effectiveness of tumbleweed (Salsola kali) plants, sprayed with chelating agents, as a passive monitoring device to determine the possible presence of heavy metals in the ambient air around international …

Uptake Of Pahs And Metals By Plants In Arid Environment, Zarhelia Carlo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Study of plant uptake of PAHs with the concurrent presence of metals in laboratory conditions was done with the aim to resemble specific combinations of natural environment. Toxicological response of seedlings was tested to define treatment conditions or possible interferences. The levels of PAHs and metals in the treatments were set up to have no toxic effect on plant growth. The complexity of concurrent contamination was demonstrated in a laboratory with soil. No visual differences were observed among various dose treatments of Cu and Zn with organics three PAHs, Phenanthrene (Phen), Acetoanthrancene, and Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP). The metal analysis by ICP/OES …

The Germination Ecology And Composition Of The Indigenous Seeds Of Cyprus Conglomeratus: A Sand Dune Binder, Sheikha Saeed Amer Al Neyadi

Theses

Cyperus conglomeratus is among few species that tolerate the instability of sand dunes and its low nutrients. This species tolerates grazing animals and sand burial. It is considered as a good fodder for both domestic and wildlife animals. It has the potential to fix sand dunes. In addition, a preliminary observation indicated the presence of high contents of oil in the seeds. Despite the ecological importance of C. conglomeratus, little information is available about germination behaviour and seed composition. The present study assessed the dormancy, germination requirement, tolerance to salinity and drought during germination stage, the impact of dormancy regulation …

Impact Of Heavy Metals On Childhood Behaviors And Development: A Uae Study, Said Yousef Ahmad Abdel Razeq

Theses

BACKGROUND: Environmental toxic metal exposure is well known to adversely affect children's development and behavior. To our knowledge, there are no studies that carefully examined this potential hazard in UAE and Gulf countries.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this case-control study was to determine blood concentrations of 12 heavy metals in school-age children in Al Ain City. The other aim was to correlate the blood levels with developmental (e.g., learning disability) and behavioral (e.g., Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) problems in children.

METHODS: One hundred and forty seven subjects (73 with developmental and/or behavioral disorders and 74 controls) participated in the study. The …

Multiple Imputation To Correct For Measurement Error In Admixture Estimates In Genetic Structured Association Testing, Miguel A. Padilla, Jamin Divers, Laura K. Vaughan, David B. Allison, Hemant K. Tiwari

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objectives: Structured association tests ( SAT), like any statistical model, assumes that all variables are measured without error. Measurement error can bias parameter estimates and confound residual variance in linear models. It has been shown that admixture estimates can be contaminated with measurement error causing SAT models to suffer from the same afflictions. Multiple imputation (MI) is presented as a viable tool for correcting measurement error problems in SAT linear models with emphasis on correcting measurement error contaminated admixture estimates. Methods: Several MI methods are presented and compared, via simulation, in terms of controlling Type I error rates for both …

Alterations Of Zinc Transporters In Alzheimer's Disease, Ganna Lyubartseva

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), one of the major causes of disability and mortality in Western societies, is a progressive age-related neurodegenerative disorder. Increasing evidence suggests the etiology of AD may involve disruptions of zinc (Zn) homeostasis. We hypothesize that disruption of Zn homeostasis leads to alterations of Zn transporter (ZnT) proteins, resulting in increased production of neurotoxic amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide in AD brain. To address this hypothesis we carried out the following studies.

1. We characterized alterations of ZnT-1, ZnT-4 and ZnT-6 in the brain of preclinical AD (PCAD) subjects, who show no overt clinical manifestations of AD but demonstrate …

Antioxidant And Anticholinesterase Constituents Of Salvia Poculata, Ufuk Kolak, Işil Hacibeki̇roğlu, Mehmet Öztürk, Fevzi̇ Özgökçe, Gülaçti Topçu, Ayhan Ulubelen

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

Two triterpenoids, namely 2\alpha,3\alpha-dihydroxy-24-nor- 4(23),12-oleanadien-28-oic acid (1) and ursolic acid (2); 4 flavonoids, namely 5-hydroxy-7,4'-dimethoxyflavone (3), cirsimaritin (4), eupatilin (5), and salvigenin (6); a diterpenoid, namely sclareol (7); and a steroid, namely \beta-sitosterol (8), were isolated from the aerial parts of Salvia poculata Nab., a Turkish endemic Salvia species. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents of the crude extract were determined as pyrocatechol and quercetin equivalents, respectively. The antioxidant activity of the crude extract and the isolated compounds (2-8) was established using \beta-carotene bleaching, superoxide anion radical, and ABTS cation radical scavenging activity. In addition, the anticholinesterase activity of the crude …

Peptide Hydrolysis And The Uptake Of Dipeptides By Phytoplankton, Margaret R. Mulholland, Cindy Lee

OES Faculty Publications

Rates of peptide hydrolysis (using the fluorescent substrate, lucifer yellow anhydride-labeled tetra-alanine) and dipeptide uptake (using dually labeled, ¹⁵N and ¹³C, dialanine) were measured in phytoplankton cultures and in natural populations during algal blooms dominated by one or two taxa. During most sampling events, both peptide hydrolysis and dipeptide uptake were greatest in the size fraction containing the dominant phytoplankter, suggesting that phytoplankton contribute substantially to or may even dominate observed extracellular peptide hydrolysis and dipeptide uptake in the environment. These are the first data suggesting that dipeptides may be taken up directly by phytoplankton and this may …

Second-Hand Smoke Exposure In Cars And Respiratory Health Effects In Children, Patrick J. Goodman, Z. Kabir, Luke Clancy, P.J. Manning, J. Holohan, S. Keogan

Articles

We examined potential associations of ever asthma, and symptoms of wheeze (past 12 months), hay fever, eczema and bronchitis (cough with phlegm) among school children exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS) in cars, using a modified Irish International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) protocol. 2,809 children of 13–14 yrs old and who selected randomly from post-primary schools throughout Ireland completed the 2007 ISAAC self-administered questionnaire. Adjusted OR (adjusted for sex, active smoking status of children interviewed and their SHS exposure at home) were estimated for the associations studied, using multivariable logistic regression techniques. Overall, 14.8% (13.9% in young …

Productivity-Diversity Relationships From Chemolithoautotrophically Based Sulfidic Karst Systems, Megan L. Porter, Annette Summers Engel, Thomas C. Kane, Brian K. Kinkle

International Journal of Speleology

Although ecosystems thriving in the absence of photosynthetic processes are no longer considered unique phenomena, we have yet to understand how these ecosystems are energetically sustained via chemosynthesis. Ecosystem energetics were measured in microbial mats from active sulfidic caves (Movile Cave, Romania; Frasassi Caves, Italy; Lower Kane Cave, Wyoming, USA; and Cesspool Cave, Virginia, USA) using radiotracer techniques. We also estimated bacterial diversity using 16S rRNA sequences to relate the productivity measurements to the composition of the microbial communities. All of the microbial communities investigated were dominated by chemolithoautotrophic productivity, with the highest rates from Movile Cave at 281 g …

Lights And Shadows On The Conservation Of A Rock Art Cave: The Case Of Lascaux Cave, Fabiola Bastian, Claude Alabouvette

International Journal of Speleology

Lascaux Cave was discovered in 1940. Twenty years after the first microbial contamination signs appeared. In the last forty years the cave suffered different fungal invasions. Here we discuss the past, present and future of the cave and the conservation of its rock art paintings to the light of data obtained using culture-dependent and –independent methods.

Using Demographic Models To Manage Chinese Privet (Ligustrum Sinense Lour.), Metha Martine Klock

LSU Master's Theses

Colonization of natural areas by Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense Lour.) threatens biodiversity and preservation of native habitat in the southeastern United States. High rates of seed production and dispersal, coupled with clonal growth, result in a competitive advantage when introduced to novel areas. Land managers have attempted to control L. sinense through prolonged flooding, prescribed fire, and herbicide application with little success. I determined presence of L. sinense invasion in four sites in Louisiana and assessed key reproductive, growth, and survivorship characteristics defining its life course. I used vegetation surveys, germination trials, dendrochronology, and demographic models to elucidate stages in …

Experimental Design, Synthesis And Application Of Molecular Micelle Modified Polymeric Nanoparticles For Drug Delivery Systems And Free Radical Detection, Gabriela M. Ganea Visser

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Biodegradable and biocompatible polymeric nanoparticles such as poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles have been extensively studied as drug delivery systems for a variety of pharmaceutical agents. Nanoparticle surface properties are primarily determined by the emulsifiers used in the synthesis process, which have a significant impact on nanoparticle physico-chemical and biological properties. Anionic amino acid – based molecular micelles were used in the emulsification process to prepare monodisperse, small (below 100 nm) PLGA nanoparticles with a well defined spherical shape. Such molecular micelle – modified nanoparticles were used as drug carriers for delivery of antioxidants. Thymoquinone is a natural antioxidant, and an …

Population Characteristics Of A White-Tailed Deer Herd In A Bottomland Hardwood Forest Of South-Central Louisiana, Justin W. Thayer

LSU Master's Theses

White-tailed deer are an important economic and recreational resource in Louisiana. A basic understanding of population dynamics is essential to ensure sound management, but baseline information in Louisiana is lacking. Likewise, the notion of Quality Deer Management (QDM) continues to gain momentum in Louisiana. Our objectives were to evaluate space use, survival, and mortality for a deer herd managed under a QDM regime in south Louisiana. We captured 65 deer in West Baton Rouge and Iberville Parishes during 2007 and 2008, radio-marked 37 males and 11 females, and ear-marked an additional 10 males and 7 females. Home ranges (95%) for …

Supercritical Fluid Extraction And Analysis Of Plant Oils, Tianchuan Du

LSU Master's Theses

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of oxeye daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum L.) seed, heartwood of Port-Orford cedar (POC) (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), Alaska yellow cedar (AYC) (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis), and Eastern red cedar (ERC) (Juniperus virginiana L), and Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum L. Roxb. ) seed was investigated in this study and compared with other extraction methods. For the oxeye daisy seed extraction, Soxhlet extraction (SE) with hexane, microwave assisted extraction (MAE), and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) were conducted. The results showed that as the extraction temperature decreased from 100 °C, the extraction rate increased until 30 °C using SFE. With an increase of extraction …

Analysis Of Adverse Events In Drug Safety: A Multivariate Approach Using Stratified Quasi-Least Squares, Hanjoo Kim, Justine Shults, Scott Patterson, Robert Goldberg-Alberts

UPenn Biostatistics Working Papers

Safety assessment in drug development involves numerous statistical challenges, and yet statistical methodologies and their applications to safety data have not been fully developed, despite a recent increase of interest in this area. In practice, a conventional univariate approach for analysis of safety data involves application of the Fisher's exact test to compare the proportion of subjects who experience adverse events (AEs) between treatment groups; This approach ignores several common features of safety data, including the presence of multiple endpoints, longitudinal follow-up, and a possible relationship between the AEs within body systems. In this article, we propose various regression modeling …

Synthesis Analysis Of Regression Models With A Continuous Outcome, Andrew Zhou, Nan Hu, Guizhou Hu, Martin Root

UW Biostatistics Working Paper Series

Synthesis Analysis of Regression Models with a Continuous Outcome Xiao-Hua Zhou 1,2, Nan Hu 2, Guizhou Hu3, and Martin Root3 1 HSR&D Center of Excellence, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA 98101. 2 Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195. 3 BioSignia, Inc., 1822 East NC Highway 54, Suite 350, Durham, NC 27713 To estimate the multivariate regression model from multiple individual studies, it would be challenging to obtain results if the input from individual studies only provide univariate or incomplete multivariate regression information. Samsa et al [1] proposed a simple method to combine coefficients from …

Isotopic Evidence Of Methane Oxidation Across The Surface Water–Ground Water Interface, Diego Andrés Riveros-Iregui, Jennifer Y. King

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Biogenic methane (CH₄) from wetlands plays a crucial role in the carbon cycle, but the dynamics of dissolved methane flux across the surface water-ground water interface remain poorly understood. This study focused on the effects of spatial transformation of dissolved methane and the role of ground-water recharge in the distribution of dissolved methane across the surface water-ground water interface. Here we present carbon isotopic measurements of biogenic methane and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from the Sarita Wetland, on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota, and also in six monitoring wells located down gradient from the …

Effects Of Olfactory And Visual Predators On Nest Success And Nest-Site Selection Of Waterfowl In North Dakota, Jennifer Borgo

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

No abstract provided.

The Feasibility Of Implementing Farm To School Programs In Bloomington-Normal Public Schools, Margaret Kane, '09

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

Farm to School programs promote partnerships between local farmers and school districts in which farmers can provide fresh organic produce for school meals and education about sustainable agriculture. A focus on local and organic foods has a variety of benefits that affect the environmental, health, and community. This study explores opportunities for Farm to School programs in Bloomington-Normal public schools, and concludes that a this type of program would be feasible in Normal, although there are quite a few barriers to overcome before implementation would be possible.

Tolerance And Accumulation Of Copper, Lead And Zinc By Ceratopteris Richardii, Dorothy Jelagat Cheruiyot

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental contamination has increased rapidly in recent years. There is a need to develop cheap and environmentally friendly remediation methods. Numerous studies have evaluated the ability plants to remove contaminants from the environment. The present study evaluated the ability of Ceratopteris richardii gametophytes and sporophytes to tolerate copper, lead and zinc and for the sporophytes to accumulate the three metals in their shoots. Spores were sown in plant medium treated with varying concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn. Fifteen-day- old sporophytes were transferred into medium mixed with varying concentrations of the three metals. Ceratopteris richardii tolerated and accumulated each of …

Modelling Hydrocarbons Transport In The Aquifer Of Bu Hasa Field And Evaluation Of Remediation Alternatives, Nawal Eisa Saleh Al Junaibi

Theses

The release of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) to groundwater reservoirs is a serious and widespread environmental problem. In 2000, free phase hydrocarbon was discovered in Liwa aquifer under Bu Hasa Liquid Recovery Plant (LRP). Liwa aquifer is a shallow unconfined aquifer and represents the main water supply in the camp area of Bu Hasa field. Dissolved benzene is observed in at least one observation well in the site. This research is conducted to simulate the fate and transport of the dissolved benzene plume in the groundwater of Liwa aquifer using the finite element model (METABIOTRANS).

The mam objective of this …

Two Highly Diverse Studies In Computing: A Vitruvian Framework For Distribution And A Search Approach To Cancer Therapies, Brian G. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Solid cancer tumors must recruit new blood vessels for growth and maintenance. Discovering drugs that block this tumor-induced development of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) is an important approach in cancer treatment. However, the complexity of angiogenesis and the difficulty in implementing and evaluating medical changes prevent the discovery of novel and effective new therapies. This paper presents a massively parallel computational search-based approach for the discovery of novel potential cancer treatments, using a high fidelity simulation of angiogenesis. Discovering new therapies is viewed as multi-objective combinatorial optimization over two competing objectives: minimizing the medical cost of the intervention while minimizing …

Decadal-Scale Changes On Coral Reefs In Quintana Roo, Mexico, Thaddeus Allen Nicholls

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In 1988 data on coral reef community composition were collected from two areas, Akumal and Chemuyil, Quintana Roo, Mexico, ranging from 5-35m depth. These areas were revisited in 2005 and data were collected by the same methods and at the same depths as in 1988. Data from 1988 and 2005 were compared to determine if the coral reefs had undergone significant changes, and what specific changes had occurred. Chi-square analysis determined that community composition data collected in 1988 are significantly different from data collected in 2005 at all sites and depths within the categories of corals, gorgonians, sponges, and macroalgae. …

Preliminary Perspectives On The Health Needs Of Pastoral Women On The Borana Plateau Using Participatory Approaches, D. Layne Coppock, Seyoum Tezera, Solomon Desta

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Since 2000, the PARIMA project has conducted participatory research and outreach among pastoralists in southern Ethiopia. This has led to notable achievements in terms of forming collective-action groups dominated by women, stimulation of sustainable micro-finance and micro-enterprise activities, and improving linkages of pastoral producers to livestock markets. Despite such gains, there are many other challenges to be addressed. One is poor human health. PARIMA researchers used participatory and qualitative methods to conduct a preliminary assessment of women’s health problems among members of six, well-established collective-action groups from the Borana and Gugi zones in the Oromia Regional State during 2008. Conventional …

Successful Implementation Of Collective Action And Human-Capacity Building Among Pastoralists In Southern Ethiopia: Lessons Learned, 2001-2008, D. Layne Coppock, Seyoum Tezera, Solomon Desta, Getachew Gebru

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Since 2000 the PARIMA project has implemented pilot risk-management activities among poverty-stricken, semi-settled pastoralists in southern Ethiopia. The goal has been to improve human welfare via collective action and capacity building. Outcomes include progress in income generation, asset conservation, and livelihood diversification. The approach has been unique to southern Ethiopia in that a bottom-up, participatory perspective has dominated. It has focused on the priorities and felt needs of local people rather than top-down development of livestock or agricultural technology. Fifty-nine collective-action groups were created. Dominated by women, they have included over 2,300 members and most groups have been recently merged …

Are Cattle Die-Offs Predictable On The Borana Plateau, D. Layne Coppock, Getachew Gebru, Solomon Desta, Sintayehu Mesele, Seyoum Tezerra

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Drought regularly affects rangelands and contributes to high death rates for livestock and poverty for pastoralists. But do livestock losses occur randomly simply when rainfall is low, or are they cyclical and predictable? Previously, PARIMA researchers proposed that high stocking rates—combined with low rainfall—trigger livestock die-offs on the Borana Plateau. It takes about six years for animal numbers to recover, setting the stage for another die-off when a dry year occurs. This “boom-and-bust” cycle is based on observed herd crashes in 1983-5, 1991-3, and 1998-9. Researchers predicted in 2002 that the next major die-off would occur during 2004-06, and one …