Magister Scientiae (Biodiversity and Conservation Biology) / Elevated temperatures accompanying climate warming are expected to have adverse effects on sensitive lichen species. This premise was examined by measuring the sensitivity of different lichen species to elevated temperatures in the laboratory and in the field. Laboratory studies involved the exposure of nine hydrated lichen species (Xanthoparmelia austro-africana, X. hyporhytida, Xanthoparmelia sp., Xanthomaculina hottentotta, Teloschistes capensis, Ramalina sp., Flavopuntelia caperata, Lasallia papulosa, Parmotrema austrosinensis) collected from sites of different aridity and mean annual temperature for 2 hourly intervals to temperatures ranging from 24ºC to 48ºC in a forced daft oven and measuring their respiration rates and maximum quantum yield of PSII. Field studies involved simultaneous hourly measurements of ground surface air temperatures and Lichen effective quantum yield of PSII of hydrated lichen species populations under ambient and artificially modified environmental conditions. / South Africa

The purposes of this research were to determine the efficacy of using the Ogawa® passive sampling device (PSD) to measure ammonia and to identify significant ammonia sources adjacent to Hillsborough and Tampa Bay. Ninety-four samplers were deployed over a 180-km2 area for two weeks in October 2001. Within the area sampled were located suburbs, an urban center, major highways, port activities, fertilizer manufacturing, wastewater treatment, coal-combustion power plants, warehousing and dairy farming. The sampled locations were arranged in a triangular grid pattern spaced 1.5 km apart. The pattern was designed to locate circular hot spots with a minimum radius of 0.75 km. The minimum, maximum, mean, and median ammonia concentrations were 0.06, 15, 2.0, and 1.5 mg/m3, respectively, and the estimated precision was 16%. Hot spots identified from kriged concentration data coincided with inventoried ammonia sources. The relative bias and precision of the PSD based on collocation with an annular denuder system were (plus or minus) 30 % and 20 %.

Net photosynthesis, dark respiration, chlorophyll concentrations and growth were determined for Rumex patientia L. exposed to UV-B radiation corresponding to reduced atmospheric ozone concentrations. The hypothesis of whether reciprocity is maintained in the response of R. patientia to polychromatic UV-B radiation was tested. On the basis of the relationships derived from these studies, a simulation model was developed for the prediction of photosynthesis and growth of R. patientia exposed to UV-B radiation corresponding to any atmospheric ozone reduction. Photosynthetic rates were found to be depressed after two hours exposure to UV-B irradiance simulating a 0.18 atm•cm ozone column when the sun is at 30° from the zenith. During this initial exposure period, partial stomatal closure was implicated in the suppression of photosynthesis. However, after one day exposure, substantial increases in photosynthetic resistances apart from stomatal diffusion resistance occurred in the UV-irradiated plants and no differences in stomatal diffusion resistance were apparent between UV-irradiated and control plants. Dark respiration rates were slightly higher in those plants exposed to UV radiation. Leaf expansion of R. patientia was substantially repressed but only during the initial few days of exposure. Thereafter, leaf expansion was similar in the UV-irradiated and control plants. A reduction in total plant dry weight and leaf area of approximately 50 percent occurred after 22 days treatment while chlorophyll concentrations remained unaltered. Time of leaf initiation was shawm to be delayed in those plants exposed to UV-B radiation. Leaf longevity was decreased with increased UV radiation but accelerated whole-plant senescence and death was not observed. Photosynthetic rates determined through the ontogeny of the third leaf of R. patientia exposed to four levels of UV irradiance were found to be depressed as a function of the accumulated biologically effective UV irradiation. Thus, reciprocity was demonstrated between 6350 and 3175 J biologically effective UV irradiation. Results of the simultion model showed that under reduced atmospheric ozone concentrations, suppression of photosynthesis and leaf growth would be more severe during mid-sunnner (i . e. June) than would occur during the March to early May period, This results from smaller solar angles from the zenith and lower prevailing ozone concentrations prevalent during June. A validation test of the model was made with photosynthetic data obtained during a field study with R. patientia exposed to UV-B radiation corresponding to a 38 percent atmospheric ozone reduction (0.18 atm•cm when the sun was at 30° from the zenith). This validation test showed a reasonable correspondence between the measured and predicted photosynthetic rates. R. patientia was selected as the test species for this study because (1) it is reasonably sensitive to UV radiation as determined in preliminary studies evaluating approximately 20 native and agricultural plant species, (2) it is normally exposed to full sunlight in · its natural habitat, and (3) individual leaves are relatively long - lived (about 60 days) and are not normally shaded by other leaves of the same plant. Although this species probably represents one of the more sensitive plants to UV radiation, it would be this group of sensitive plants that would be initially affected under conditions of reduced atmospheric ozone. If more resistant plants with long-lived plant parts also accumulate UV radiation damage as was shown to occur in R. patientia, over sufficient periods of time even these species might be significantly impacted under conditions of reduced atmospheric ozone.

Dans le monde entier l’antibiorésistance des entérobactérales communautaires, notamment par production de ß-lactamase à spectre étendu (E-BLSE), conduit à une consommation préoccupante d’antibiotique de dernier recours tels les carbapénèmes. Dérivé de la ticarcilline la témocilline pourrait représentée une alternative y compris sur certaines entérobactérales productrices de carbapénèmase (EPC). Néanmoins, il existe une incertitude concernant les concentrations critiques distinguant les entérobactérales sensibles des résistantes avec trois valeurs selon les pays utilisateurs de témocilline (8 mg/L, 16 mg/L ou 32 mg/L) tandis qu’une harmonisation internationale reste en attente. En ce contexte trois travaux originaux ont été poursuivi ainsi qu’une revue de la littérature. Il fut d’abord étudié in vitro la sensibilité à la témocilline de 762 entérobactérales responsables d’infection urinaire communautaire. Dans un contexte de prévalence faible des E-BLSE (5%) et nulle des EPC, les trois méthodes de routine (disque, automate, Etest) se sont révélées très fiables, la borne épidémiologique pour la témocilline s’établissant à 8 mg/L. Ensuite, l’efficacité de la témocilline vis-à-vis d’entérobactérales productrices ou non de ßlactamases (E-BLSE ou EPC) a été évaluée dans deux modèles murins complémentaires. Il a été montré l’efficacité de la témocilline à un schéma reproduisant la posologie humaine de 2 g toutes 12 h vis-à-vis d’entérobactérales pour lesquels la CMI de la témocilline était de 8 mg/L. L’efficacité de ce schéma posologique, bien que significative, était moindre vis-à-vis des isolats pour lesquels la CMI de la témocilline était de 16 mg/L. Par contre, il ne fut pas observé d’efficacité significative de la témocilline vis-à-vis des isolats avec une CMI à 32 mg/L quelques soit le schéma posologique (2 g toutes les 8 ou 12 h). L’ensemble de ces résultats, ainsi qu’une revue exhaustive des données de la littérature, conduisent à proposer une concentration critique de 8 mg/L pour le schéma posologique de 2 g toutes les 12 h, et de 16 mg/L pour celui de 2 g toutes les 8h. Cette dernière proposition correspondrait au « sensible à forte exposition », nouvelle définition de la catégorisation « intermédiaire » selon les dernières recommandations de l’EUCAST. / Worldwide spread of antimicrobial resistance among community-acquired enterobacterales, especially ESBL, leads to a worrying consumption of last resort antibiotics like carbapenem. Derivative of ticarcillin, temocillin may be an attractive carbapenem-sparing agent including against some carbapenemase-producing enterobacterales (CPE). Nevertheless, there is still uncertainty regarding clinical breakpoints with 3 different values depending on countries (8 mg/L, 16 mg/L, 32 mg/L), moreover international consensus about this issue is awaited. In this context, three original studies were conducted along with a literature review. First, in vitro susceptibility to temocillin of 762 enterobacterales from community-acquired urinary tract infection was studied. In this area of low prevalence of ESBL and no CPE, the three routine susceptibility methods (disk diffusion, automate, Etest) were very accurate, epidemiological cut-off was set to 8 mg/L. Then, temocillin efficacy against enterobacterales producing or not producing ß-lactamase (ESBL or CPE) was assessed by two complementary murine models. We demonstrated that temocillin exposure reproducing 2 g q12h regimen showed efficacy against strains with temocillin MIC of 8 mg/L. This regimen exhibited a lower, even though significant, efficacy against strain with temocillin MIC of 16 mg/L. On the over hand, it was not observed significant efficacy against strain with temocillin MIC of 32 mg/L whatever the regimen used (2 g q12h or q8h). All together this results and the literature review support a clinical breakpoints of 8 mg/L for2 g q12h regimen, and 16 mg/L for 2 g q8h regimen. This last proposition correspond to the new susceptibility category : “Intermediate – Susceptible, increase exposure” from the last EUCAST recommendations.

This study determines the differences in survival of eight Salmonella strains concentration of BAC in water, followed by regrowth in high and low nutrition conditions containing sublethal concentration of BAC. Our results show strain difference in survival, persistence of Salmonella in BAC at different concentrations. All eight strains of Salmonella were non-recoverable when exposed to 40 to 48 µg/ml BAC for 1h in water. When exposed to 24 µg/ml of BAC for 1 h in water, S. Typhimurium ATCC 14028 and S. Heidelberg ATCC 8326 cells were non-detectable from the initial 7 log CFU/ml. S. Blockley 7175, S. Virchow 7207, S. Poona 01A4242 and S. Poona 00A3208, were non-detectable after 1 h exposure at 24 µg/ml and continued to be non-detectable in 12 µg/ml BAC in both nutrient conditions after 24 h. 3/8 strains formed rugose morphotypes when exposed to BAC thus leading to understanding the role of strain differences.

No Abstract Provided / Thesis / Bachelor of Arts (BA)

We present here the first cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration profiles derived from measurements with the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) aboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO), for different aerosol types at a supersaturation of 0.15%. CCN concentrations, along with the corresponding uncertainties, were inferred for a nighttime CALIPSO overpass on 9 September 2011, with coincident observations with the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) BAe-146 research aircraft, within the framework of the Evaluation of CALIPSO’s Aerosol Classification scheme over Eastern Mediterranean (ACEMED) research campaign over Thessaloniki, Greece. The CALIPSO aerosol typing is evaluated, based on data from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) reanalysis. Backward trajectories and satellite-based fire counts are used to examine the origin of air masses on that day. Our CCN retrievals are evaluated against particle number concentration retrievals at different height levels, based on the ACEMED airborne measurements and compared against CCN-related retrievals from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors aboard Terra and Aqua product over Thessaloniki showing that it is feasible to obtain CCN concentrations from CALIPSO, with an uncertainty of a factor of two to three.

No description available.

Baby spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) is considered to be the one of the extremely nutritious vegetables, rich both in phytochemicals and core nutrients. Nowadays, phytochemicals in plants are raising interest in consumers for their roles in the maintenance of human health. Variation in content of bioactive compounds and core nutrients is the main concern in vegetable production. Factors such as cultural practices specially fertilization, may affect the nutritional and medicinal properties of the plants Therefore, three parallel trials for NPK to investigate the response of baby spinach leaves to nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) on chemical composition were conducted, with treatments arranged as follows: 0, 45, 75, 105, 120 kg·ha-1 N and P and 0, 60, 85, 106, 127, 148 kg·ha-1 K in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications. The results demonstrated that, application of nitrogenous, phosphorus, potassium fertilizers significantly increased the total phenolic content, total antioxidant activity, total flavonoid content and vitamin C while magnesium, iron, zinc and selenium did not exhibit significant response to all treatments applied. The increase in concentrations on total phenolic content, total antioxidant activity, total flavonoid content and vitamin C was observed, reaching maximum at 45 kg·ha-1 N, 75 kg·ha-1 P and 85 kg·ha-1 K. The optimum rates of 45 kg·ha-1 N, 75 kg·ha-1 P, 85 kg·ha−1 K were then used to formulate the NPK treatment combinations as follows: 0, 30: 30: 40, 45:45:60, 60:60:70, 75:75:90 kg·ha-1, arranged in a RCBD with three replicates. The results showed that total phenolic content, total antioxidant activity , total flavonoid content and vitamin C reached maximum in baby spinach leaves at N45:P45:K60 kg·ha-1 / Agriculture,  Animal Health & Human Ecology / M.Sc. (Agriculture)

<p>Det övergripande syftet med min C-uppsats är att granska lärarens bedömning och perceptio-ner för elever i behov av särskilt stöd och vidare belysa vilka möjligheter och begränsningar de anser sig ha för att kunna ta hänsyn till elever i behov av särskilt stöd samt få en syn på de skolsituationer som barn och elever med dolda funktionshinder och i behov av särskilt stöd kan befinna sig i.</p><p>För att få svar på mina frågor har sex lärare inklusive en special lärare intervjuats och samti-digt diskuterades de psykologiska och biologiska faktorer kring barns och ungdomars utveck-ling. Den historiska återblicken ger oss en uppfattning på hur begreppet ”en skola för alla” har utvecklats inom loppet av tiden och vilka syn på barn i behov av särskilt stöd har pedagogerna idag. De centrala frågorna rörde sig om pedagogernas uppfattning om barn med koncentra-tionssvårigheter och deras syn på diagnostisering av barn med problem. En inkluderande inte-grering i jämförelse med segregering diskuterades också samt hur pedagogerna kan hjälpa dessa barn.</p><p>Eleverna i skolan är olika och deras olikheter måste mötas med omtanke. För att uppfylla de-ras behov krävs kunniga och kompetenta personal i skolan. Skolan måste ha en fungerande och tillfredställande elevvård för att kunna nå skolans mål. Skolornas neddragningar på grund av ekonomiska problem gör att barn med dolda funktionshinder misslyckas allt oftare i da-gens skola. Dessa orsakar att barn får ett dåligt självförtroende med upprepade misslyckande och försämrar deras problem.</p><p>Allmänt finns det en del olika faktorer som ligger bakom barn med koncentrations svårighe-ter. De biologisk och ärftliga faktorer samt tillväxtmiljön och deras samhällsställning kan ge-nerellt nämnas. Brist på tid, ekonomi och kunskap i skolorna är det en barriär för att kunna hjälpa barn med svårigheter.</p> / <p>The comprehensive purpose with this paper is to have a look at teacher’s assessment and per-ception of pupils with special educational needs. And further illustrate which possibilities and restrictions they believe to have, to take children with special educational needs into consid-eration and get a view of school situations who children with hidden functional disability and with special educations needs are at the present.</p><p>To get answer to my questions, six teachers inclusive a special teacher for pupils with im-paired disabilities have been interviewed and discussed the psychological and biological fac-tors around children’s development. The historical review gave us a perceptive on how defini-tion of “school for all” has been developed during the time and what is teacher’s opinion on children with special needs today. The central questions were concentrating on teachers un-derstanding of children with concentration difficulty and their opinion on diagnostic of chil-dren with problems. An “including integration” compared to segregating been discussed as well and finally discussed how teachers can help these children.</p><p>Pupils in school are not comparable and these differences must meets carefully. To meet chil-dren’s requirements schools have need of personnel’s competence and proficiency. Schools required having functioning and satisfactory pupil welfare to achieve the aim. Lowering of school resources due to economical problems do that child with hidden functional disability fails more often in schools these days. These effects cause that children get a horrific self-confidence and worsen their problems. Generally, there are different factors behind the con-centrations difficulty. The biological and hereditary factors as well as home environment and their class society can points out in general. Lacking of time, economy and knowledge stops teachers to helping children in school.</p>