This dissertation aims at investigating the association between genotypes and phenotypes in human. Both common and rare regulatory variants have been studied. The phenotypes include disease risk, clinical traits and gene expression levels. This dissertation describes three different types of association study. The first study investigated the relationship between common variants and three sub-clinical traits as well as three complex diseases in the Center for Health Discovery and Well Being study (CHDWB). The second study is GWAS analysis of TNF-α and BMI/CRP conducted as a contribution to meta-GWAS analyses of these traits with investigators at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and the 1000 Genomes Consortium. The third study was the most original contribution of my thesis as it assessed the association between rare regulatory variants in promoter regions and gene expression levels. The results clearly show an enrichment of rare variants at both extremes of gene expression. This dissertation provides insight into how common and rare variants associate with broadly-defined quantitative phenotypes. The demonstration that rare regulatory variants make a substantial contribution to gene expression variation has important implications for personalized medicine as it implies that de novo and other rare alleles need to be considered as candidate effectors of rare disease risk.

ITC/USA 2014 Conference Proceedings / The Fiftieth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 20-23, 2014 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, CA / SOQPSK-TG is a highly bandwidth-efficient constant-envelope modulation so that it has been applied in aeronautical telemetry widely. We develop a simple detection of SOQPSK-TG which is based on a modified OQPSK detection. The simple detection has the advantages of low complexity and good performance. And it's also suitable for other varieties of SOQPSK and FQPSK.

The starting point of the dissertation is a special kind of intentional action -- Aristotelian praxis, or, in a more metaphysical register, energeia -- a kind whose agent's intention in acting must be expressible as the deliverance of one's prohairesis (``deliberate choice''), action that is the embodiment of one's conception of eupraxia (``acting well''), and, equivalently, of eudaimonia (``happiness''). It is special, since not all that we intentionally do can be intelligibly expressed as the deliverance of our conceptions of acting well. Recognition of the gaps between action in general and intentional action more specifically, and between intentional action and prohairetic action, sets the stage for a reinterpretation, not only of core aspects of Aristotle's Ethics, but also of central features of Aristotle's political recommendations. The interpretation defended here centers on the claim that, for Aristotle, defective political communities are often marked, not so much by an erroneous conception of human virtue, but by defective forms of action, forms in which agents fail to apply certain concepts to what they do. Importantly, such failures do not hang on the different failure to apply concepts correctly: the failure to act prohairetically need not come to the failure to grasp the correct conception of human virtue or of human happiness. / Government

Researchers have found considerable evidence that information about school performance affects people's choices about which schools to send their children to and even where to live. In contrast, little attention has been paid to the effects of school performance information on people's political behavior. Yet Hirschman (1970) famously highlighted the importance of taking seriously not only economic forces, but also the role of "political mechanisms", that is, "non-market forces" or "voice", in analyzing people's responses to school performance and the implications of these responses for school outcomes. This dissertation explores the effect of information about student and school performance on people's political attitudes and behavior. I first present findings from an original dataset of school board elections in Florida that indicate that voters fail to punish school board incumbents in response to information signaling poor school performance. There is even evidence that voters sometimes reward incumbents for failure. I next analyze a dataset that links student test scores in England to a subsequent survey, and find that that informational signals about individual student performance can have long−lasting effects on parental behavior. Finally, I analyze the results of a survey experiment administered to a nationally representative sample of Americans, and find that information about the relative performance of local schools depresses average perceptions of local school quality and increases support for school reforms. / Government

With the implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in over forty states, teachers are putting into practice the CCSS text exemplars of text complexity. Of particular concern for the purpose of this research are the kindergarten and first grade (K-1) read aloud and independent text exemplar lists. While not intended as core reading lists, many schools are using these lists as mandated texts. A fundamental goal of primary school education is to help facilitate readers and one way is through the use of interesting and engaging books to motivate students as readers. At the initial stage of the reading process, selecting quality books for a specific group of students or an individual student constitutes an important aspect in engaging young readers. When a story provides a young reader with a material that encourages connections, their motivation to read increases. Research shows that motivation to read increases if a student identifies with elements of the story such as the characters or the setting. This research takes a close look at the kindergarten and first grade read aloud and independent texts through both a descriptive and a critical analysis to evaluate power dynamics and representations in the texts. The research questions used for this research were: (1) What are the characteristics of the CCSS K-1 text exemplars? and (2) What representations of people of color and women are present in the CCSS K-1 exemplars? The first research question was answered with information gathered from the descriptive analysis. The second question was primarily answered with information gathered from the critical analysis though the descriptive analysis also provided insight. Findings from the analyses provided data when viewed collectively that have implications for teacher educators, classroom teachers, and policy makers.

1. INTRODUCTION The incidence of diseases whose pathogenesis chain includes changes in the functioning of the immune system is currently on the increase. The increasing prevalence of primary and secondary immunodeficiencies is a relevant issue in immunopathology. Secondary immunodeficiencies, caused by such factors as bacteria, viruses, helminths, chemical substances, medications, radiation, stress, etc., result in higher morbidity. Immunosuppression occurs in cases of oncological or allergic diseases, bronchial asthma, etc. immunosuppression is relevant in cases of malignant tumors whose incidence in Lithuania has been increasing with every year during the recent period. Oncological treatment involves the application of radiotherapy and chemotherapy with cytostatics that are strong immunosuppressants, and thus the restoration of the immune system with immunostimulants is becoming a relevant issue. Insufficient nutrition, disturbed nutrient resorption, negative nitrogen balance, chronic alcoholism, and drug abuse – all these factors result in the deceleration of cell proliferation and decreased T-lymphocyte counts and function. Immunodeficiency increases morbidity with infectious diseases, since the organism becomes incapable of the rapid destruction of the causative agents. Such conditions increase the probability of the spreading of the infection, and condition the increased activity of the opportunistic infections caused by adenoviruses, cytomegaloviruses, etc... [to full text]

This thesis is an investigation of the effects of whole beans, with different levels of phenolics level, on colonic inflammation in mice. C57BL/6 male mice were fed a basal diet (BD) supplemented with or without 20% bean flour for 3 weeks. Colitis was induced by 2% dextran sulphate sodium (DSS) in mice drinking water. Phenolic determinations of the bean flours revealed that within each pair of beans, the darker bean had higher phenolic content and antioxidant activity compared to the lighter one. In addition, only coloured beans had anthocyanin. When bean were consumed both prior to and during DSS cycle, the mice experienced both disease attention and aggravation. However, when bean consumption was limited to prior to DSS induction only, mice had reduced colitis upon later DSS induction. Overall, findings suggest that the effects of bean may differ depending on the timing of consumption. / Agriculture and Agri-Food of Canada, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs

Common bean is a nutritionally and economically important food crop and a major source of dietary protein in many developing countries throughout the world. Seed coat colour and size in this crop are the main factors determining its marketability in different parts of the world. Flavonoid compounds that are responsible for seed coat colour in beans have been shown to have anti-oxidant, anti-proliferative, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and pro-apoptotic activities. They also may enhance the resistance of beans to pest and disease. A better understanding of the relationships between seed coat colour and flavonoid metabolism in the seed coat may help breeders to select for more nutritionally-beneficial bean varieties. The objective of this research was to test the hypothesis that the genes determining colour in beans are structural and regulatory genes of the phenylpropanoid pathway. The map positions of phenylpropanoid genes were determined in two recombinant inbred populations. Segregation patterns of 18 phenylpropanoid pathway genes in the BAT93 × Jalo EEP 558 RIL population and five phenylpropanoid pathway genes in OAC Rex × SVM Taylor were used to place them on the linkage maps for these populations. Five out of 18 genes were mapped within 2-17 cM of colour gene loci in the BAT93 × Jalo EEP 558 RIL population. The sequences of central genes of the phenylpropanoid pathway were determined by sequencing 6 BAC clones selected with probes for two PAL genes, two CHS genes, DFR, and Myb. The functional annotations of the BAC clones were determined and the similarities between bean phenylpropanoid genes and their corresponding orthologs in other plant species were investigated. A recently developed approach of whole genome sequence comparison was utilized to compare the microsynteny of the sequenced BAC clones with regions of the soybean genome. The physical locations of BAC clones were verified on the bean genome and their counterpart locations on the soybean genome were confirmed. The results agreed with previous studies that indicated that bean genome segments have two homologous segments in soybean and confirmed the high degree of microsynteny that is shared between bean and soybean.

Control of Taraxacum officinale (dandelion) and other broadleaf weeds in turfgrass has been readily achieved with phenoxy herbicides, but the herbicide option has been revoked in many regions, necessitating alternative weed control strategies. One biological alternative is Sclerotinia minor, an Ascomycete fungus. The impact of S. minor on broadleaf weed dynamics and biotic interactions were studied in a turfgrass environment. The goal was to maximize effectiveness of a S. minor formulation as a biocontrol of dandelion using an ecological approach. S. minor efficacy was not affected by turf microenvironments and was similarly efficacious with spring or fall application. All accessions from a worldwide collection of dandelion and 32 turfgrass broadleaf species were susceptible to S. minor. Biocontrol efficacy was inversely correlated with dandelion age, but efficacy on all ages was enhanced in the presence of grass competition. When combined with regular mowing at 7-10 cm, the S. minor suppressive effect on dandelion was similar to the herbicide effect, particularly in the following season. Weed suppression was less with close mowing at 3-5 cm due to increased dandelion seedling recruitment. While spring herbicide application was effective to suppress dandelion population, the S. minor treatment has no residual activity, necessitating a second application to suppress seedling recruits. Root regrowth after S. minor infection was minimal and was further reduced in superior quality turf after season-long mowing, and after spring applications. S. minor infected dandelion seeds, reduced the dandelion seedbank, and reduced dandelion seedling emergence by 98%. S. minor did not affect the emergence or the total biomass of cool season temperate turfgrass species. Turfgrass quality was improved following S. minor application and populations of other broadleaf weeds were also controlled by S. minor. Understanding the biotic interactions within the turfgrass environment has rewardingly lead to successful integration of the S.minor biocontrol with the common management tools of mowing and over-seeding to achieve excellent control of dandelion and a healthy thriving turf.

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