Master of Science / Department of Agronomy / DeAnn Presley / Steve Thien / Interest and participation in urban agriculture is growing in many cities throughout the United States. Urban gardeners and farmers produce food on various types of urban lands. Common soil contaminants of urban areas limit the amount of land on which food may safely be grown. The objective of this study was to assess and meet the informational and technical assistance needs of urban gardeners and farmers as well as students enrolled in the introductory soils science course at Kansas State University on the topics of urban soil quality and contamination. A needs assessment survey of urban gardeners and farmers was conducted in four communities; Tacoma and Seattle, Washington, Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri, Manhattan, Kansas, and Gary, Indiana. The survey generated information about what urban gardeners and farmers know, think they know, and want to know about urban soil quality and contamination. Eighty-eight percent of respondents indicated that they do not have knowledge of the best management practices to minimize health risks involved when growing food crops on soils contaminated with lead, cadmium, arsenic or organic contaminants. Our results suggest that urban gardeners and farmers require and want information and guidance on soil testing for common contaminants, interpretation of testing results, and best management practices for growing food on mildly contaminated soils. The students enrolled in the introductory soil science course at Kansas State University are future agricultural and environmental professionals who need skills to address urban soils issues. Most of the students in the Agronomy 305: Soils course are not Agronomy majors. Furthermore, an increasing number of Agronomy 305 students come from urban and suburban communities and/or have interest in working in urban environments upon completion of their undergraduate degree. An urban soils laboratory was developed in response to the future workforce demands as well as the demographics of students enrolled in the Agronomy 305 course. Throughout the semester students evaluated the physical, chemical, and biological properties of a soil from this urban community garden. Reaction of students to the new urban soils lab offering has been positive with 72% of students enrolled in the course reporting that they have interest and need in learning about the urban soil issues covered in the lab course. Overall, student responses about their learning experience in the urban soils laboratory course were positive, indicating that incorporating urban soil principles enhanced their soil science education. Students who participated in the urban soils lab are better prepared, as future agricultural and environmental professionals, to address the educational and technical assistance needs of urban growers.

In this study of preschool children and parents (N=64), we examined relations between two facets of parents' emotion socialization: direct and indirect socialization; three facets of children's emotional competence: emotion expression, regulation, and understanding; and their relations with children's social and emotional adjustment. Few associations were observed between indicators of parents' emotion socialization and among indicators of children's emotional competence, suggesting that these constructs are better understood as multi-faceted, rather than unitary processes. Additionally, aspects of children's emotional competence linked--both directly and indirectly--parents' emotion socialization behaviors and children's social and emotional adjustment. Results are discussed with regard to the role of parents' emotion socialization and children's emotional competence, especially emotion regulation, in children's adjustment during preschool.

RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq) has become one of the most widely used techniques to interrogate the transcriptome of an organism since the advent of next generation sequencing technologies [1]. A plethora of tools have been developed to analyze and visualize the transcriptome data from RNA-Seq experiments, solving the problem of mapping reads back to the host organism's genome [2] [3]. This allows for analysis of most reads produced by the experiments, but these tools typically discard reads that do not match well with the reference genome. This additional information could reveal important insight into the experiment and possible contributing factors to the condition under consideration. We introduce PARSES, a pipeline constructed from existing sequence analysis tools, which allows the user to interrogate RNA-Sequencing experiments for possible biological contamination or the presence of exogenous sequences that may shed light on other factors influencing an organism's condition.

Bayou St. John, an urban water body extending south from Lake Pontchartrain, has two anthropogenic structures that regulate flow from the Lake . The City of New Orleans has plans to remove the inner control structure to improve water quality. Field and numerical methods used in this study show removing this structure increased water elevations throughout the Bayou but resulted in lower water elevation signal amplitudes that caused a lower tidal flow exchange from north to south. Bulk Richardson numbers showed mixing was inversely related to flow and the Bayou generally remains stratified. Resuspension of contaminated sediment could negatively impact the local ecology but predicted shear stress values did not reach a critical value (0.1 N/m2) for resuspension. Removal of the waterfall structure will benefit Bayou St. John by decreasing energy losses from the Lake, however a more pronounced tidal signal from Lake Pontchartrain is required to flush the Bayou.

La géophysique procure une vision d'ensemble du sous-sol sous forme de cartes et de coupes et apporte des informations précieuses sur la géologie et l'organisation du sous-sol. Bureau d'étude spécialise dans les diagnostics de sols et la recherche d'objets enterrés, Geoscope, partenaire de la thèse CIFRE, désire développer sa thématique géophysique appliquée aux sites et sols pollués. L'objectif est de localiser, de limiter et caractériser les zones polluées aux hydrocarbures. L’étude porte sur l’impact des pollutions hydrocarbonées sur la réponse géoélectrique, et plus spécifiquement sur la réponse en polarisation provoquée spectrale. Les mécanismes de polarisation, qui peuvent être modifiés par la présence d’hydrocarbures, interviennent sur des gammes de fréquences caractéristiques. La polarisation provoquée spectrale, qui mesure la réponse d’un milieu dans le domaine fréquentiel, apporte des informations plus précises que les autres méthodes géoélectriques qui fonctionnent dans le domaine temporel. Les effets de la présence d’hydrocarbures sont étudiés à différentes échelles : (i) à l’échelle du laboratoire, sur des milieux synthétiques afin d’appréhender les mécanismes de réponse (ii) à l’échelle de deux sites pollués afin de confronter les modèles développés en, laboratoire aux données réelles, d’apprécier les limites des méthodes et d’adapter les protocoles utilisés. / Geophysics provides an overview of the basement in the form of maps and sections and gives valuable informations on the geology and the basement organization. Geoscope, partner of the project, is an engineering office specialized in soil diagnosis and buried objects searching and wants to develop environmental geophysics. The aim is to locate, limit and characterize hydrocarbon contaminated areas.The study focuses on the hydrocarbon contamination impact on the geoelectrical response, and more precisely on the spectral induced polarization response. Polarization mechanisms, which can be modified by hydrocarbons presence, occur on typical frequency ranges. Spectral induced polarization, which measures the response of a medium in the frequency domain, gives more precises informations than others methods which work in temporal domain.The effects of hydrocarbon presence are studied at different scales: (i) at the laboratory scale on synthetic media to understand response mechanisms (ii) across two contaminated sites to compare models developed in laboratory to real data, to evaluate the limits of the methods and to adapt protocols.

Objective was to assess the toxicity of chromium (Cr) contaminated soil (CS) using the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris. Specific aims were to determine: (1) survival (LC50); .(2) immunotoxicity as indicated by lysozyme activity, coelomocyte counts, secretory (SR) and erythrocyte rosette (ER) formation, and phagocytosis; and (3) compare effects of CS exposure with those of Cr spiked artificial soil (AS) . CS Cr concentration was 8.78 mg/g with 98.2% being Cr^3+ and 1.8% being Cr^6+. Using 14 d AS protocol the LC50 was 6.49% CS: AS mixture. CS concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, 2.5 and 5.0% were sublethal, whereas 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50 and 100% CS were lethal. Sublethal exposure caused no immuno- modulation. Exposure to 50% CS: AS mixture for 5 d caused reduced SR and ER formation. Exposure to AS spiked with 0.27% Cr for 5 d resulted in immunomodulation equivalent to 50% CS: AS mixtures. Results indicated the CS to be acutely toxic.

Orientador: Roberto de Oliveira Roça / Resumo: O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar a excreção de patógenos e inocuidade da carcaça de bovinos alimentados com diferentes níveis de silagem inoculada de grãos úmidos de destilaria desengordurados (WDG). Um total de 100 bovinos machos não castrados, 50% Angus e 50% Nelore, foram divididos aleatoriamente entre quatro dietas (N = 25) compostas por diferentes níveis de silagem de WDG (0, 15, 30 e 45% da matéria seca dietética). Amostras de fezes foram colhidas por meio de suabe da junção reto anal, 15 dias antes do abate, para determinar as ocorrências e quantificação de Escherichia coli produtora de toxina Shiga (STEC), E. coli enteropatogênica (EPEC) e Salmonella spp. por meio da técnica qPCR. Também foram colhidas, 52 dias antes do abate, amostras de fezes de cada animal do piso do curral, logo após defecação, as quais foram submetidas a análises físico-químicas. Logo após o abate, a ocorrência e a contagem de indicadores higiênicos e sanitários, E. coli não patogênica, coliformes totais e bactérias aeróbias mesófilas, assim como, a ocorrência de STEC, EPEC e Salmonella spp., foram determinados a partir de amostras colhidas por meio de esponja da superfície das carcaças das regiões do coxão, flanco, peito e pescoço. Os resultados quantitativos foram submetidos a análises de variância e os dados binários foram submetidos a análises logísticas com razão de chances. Todas as análises estatísticas foram realizadas no software estatístico SAS 9.4 considerando um nível de signifi... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the pathogen excretion and carcass safety of cattle fed different levels of inoculated silage from degreased wet distillery grains (WDG). A total of 100 male, 50% Angus and 50% Nelore male bulls were randomly divided into four diets (N = 25) composed of different levels of WDG silage (0, 15, 30 and 45% of dietary dry matter) . Stool specimens were collected by rectal anal junction swab 15 days prior to slaughter to determine the occurrences and quantification of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), E. coli enteropathogenic (EPEC) and Salmonella spp. by the qPCR technique. Samples of faeces from each animal on the corral floor were also collected, 52 days before slaughter, immediately after defecation, which were submitted to physical-chemical analysis. Immediately after slaughtering, the occurrence and counting of hygienic and sanitary indicators, non-pathogenic E. coli, total coliforms, and mesophilic aerobic bacteria, as well as the occurrence of STEC, EPEC and Salmonella spp., were determined from samples collected by medium of the surface of the carcasses of the regions of the tail, flank, chest and neck. The quantitative results were submitted to analysis of variance and the binary data were submitted to logistic analyzes with odds ratio. All statistical analyzes were performed in SAS 9.4 statistical software considering a significance level of 5%. The results showed that there was no difference between treatments fo... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

A colonização e proliferação de micro-organismos periodontopatogênicos na gengiva marginal aos implantes dentários, assim como ao redor de seus componentes protéticos, pode representar riscos à saúde dos tecidos peri-implantares, à semelhança do que ocorre com os tecidos periodontais. O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar e quantificar 32 espécies microbianas de biofilmes coletados das superfícies de dois sistemas de encaixe para sobredentaduras retidas por implantes: um esférico (Retentive Anchor, Institut Straumann AG, Suíça - RA) e um cilíndrico (Locator, Zest Anchors Inc., CA-USA - Loc), das próteses, implantes e sulcos peri-implantares, ao longo do tempo. Os biofilmes analisados foram coletados em um estudo randomizado envolvendo 24 pacientes portadores de prótese total superior e sobredentadura inferior retida por dois implantes com sistemas de encaixe esférico RA (n= 12) ou cilíndrico Loc (n= 12). Amostras de biofilme foram coletadas de sete sítios para cada implante, nos períodos: após a instalação de novos encaixes (baseline), assim como aos 3 e 12 meses subsequentes. A identificação e quantificação das espécies microbianas foram realizadas por meio da técnica de hibridização DNA-DNA Checkerboard. Os resultados foram submetidos à análise não paramétrica de modelo misto ANOVAF, e matriz de covariância não estruturada para cada tratamento, com nível de significância de 0.05, posteriormente ajustado por Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR). Considerando-se todos os sítios e períodos investigados em conjunto e as 32 espécies bacterianas investigadas, apenas a S. constellatus foi encontrada em maior abundância nos biofilmes associados ao sistema RA. A análise sítio-específica revelou maior prevalência das espécies S. constellatus e P. micra na rosca do componente macho do encaixe esférico RA e da espécie S. sanguinis na superfície externa do componente macho do encaixe cilíndrico Loc. De modo geral, pôde-se concluir que os sistemas de encaixe para retenção de sobredentaduras RA e Loc são colonizados por microbiotas com perfis semelhantes, embora esses sistemas exerçam influência seletiva sobre o padrão de colonização das espécies bacterianas S. constelatus, P. micra e S. sanguinis / The colonization and proliferation of periodontopathogenic microorganisms in the dental implants marginal gingiva, as well as around their prosthetic components, may represent risks to the health of the peri-implant tissues, similar to what occurs with the periodontal tissues. The objective of this study was to identify and quantify 32 microbial species of biofilms collected from the surfaces of two attachment systems for implant retained mandibular overdentures: one spherical (Retentive Anchor, Institut Straumann AG, Switzerland - RA) and one cylindrical (Locator, Zest Anchors Inc., CA-USA - Loc), of prostheses, implants and peri-implant sulcus, over time. The biofilms analyzed were collected in a randomized study involving 24 patients with superior complete dentures and inferior overdenture retained by two implants with spherical attachment RA (n = 12) or cylindrical Loc (n = 12) systems. Biofilm samples were collected from seven sites of each implant, at the periods: after new attachments installation (baseline), as well at the next 3 and 12 months. The microbial species identification and quantification were carried out using DNA-DNA Checkerboard hybridization technique. The results were submitted to the mixed model non-parametric analysis \"ANOVAF\" and non-structured covariance matrix for each treatment, with 0.05 significance level, later adjusted by \"Benjamini-Hochberg\" false discovery rate (FDR). Considering all the sites and periods investigated together and the 32 bacterial species investigated, only S. constellatus was found in greater abundance in the biofilms associated to the RA system. The site-specific analysis revealed a higher prevalence of S. constellatus and P. micra species on the male component of the RA spherical attachment and of S. sanguinis species on the outer surface of the male component of the cylindrical Loc attachment. In general, it can be concluded that the overdenture attachment systems RA and Loc are colonized by microbiotas with similar profiles, although these systems exert a selective influence on the colonization pattern of S. constelatus, P. micra and S. sanguinis bacterial species

Nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere and accidents in nuclear energy facilities in the last 50 years caused significant contamination of the environment. Half-life of certain leaked radionuclides is several decades and therefore they are still present in today's environment. That is the reason why there is still on going monitoring of radiation situation in the Czech Republic in order to determine the behaviour and kinetics of anthropogenic radionuclides in the environment and the severity of radiological impact on humans. The results of this monitoring serve to review the radiation situation, observe long-term trends and last but not least to gain new knowledge that could facilitate the management od radiological emergencies. The aim of this thesis was to measure the content of 137Cs in soils under and around leafy tree crowns in the area affected by radiation fall and to find out whether the tree's crown has an effect on the distribution of 137Cs in the soils below them. To this end, a research question has been set: Do tree crowns affect the distribution of cesium in the soils below them? For better intelligibility, the introduction of the thesis is devoted to information about ionizing radiation, basic terms and quantities in the field of ionizing radiation, sources of radionuclide contamination, especially the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, environmental and population contamination, and elements important for the practical part of this work. The theoretical part is followed by research methodology. The soil samples were collected under five leafy trees of the Walnut species that met the set criteria for collection. Under each tree, samples were taken in three directions at an angle of 120° always at the trunk, in the middle of the crown, at the edge of the crown and outside the crown. Thus, 12 samples per tree, a total of 60 samples. Dry and purified soil samples were measured by semiconductor gamma spectrometry which determined 137Cs radionuclide mass activity values as well as naturally occurring radionuclide40K. Graphs were generated from the measured values. Despite the frequent deviations that may be caused by natural phenomena or human activities, it was found out that tree crowns affect the distribution of 137Cs in the soils below them.

Orientador: César Augusto Moreira / Resumo: Aterros sanitários de resíduos sólidos são a forma de disposição final adequada mais utilizada no mundo devido a suas vantagens operacionais. O processo de instalação, no entanto, exige o desenvolvimento de diversos sistemas tecnológicos a fim de garantir uma disposição de resíduos segura em termos ambientais e de saúde pública. Ainda assim, a contaminação do ambiente subterrâneo pelos produtos da degradação dos resíduos sólidos (chorume) é recorrente. Diante dessas ocorrências, é necessário investigar a área com o objetivo de encontrar as falhas nos sistemas do aterro responsáveis pela contaminação; propor projetos de remediação e monitoramento. Este trabalho aplicou o método geofísico da eletrorresistividade em uma vala de resíduos de um aterro sanitário de pequeno porte com o intuito de diagnosticar a presença de chorume no aquífero e detectar possíveis imperfeições no sistema de impermeabilização. Adicionalmente, por meio de um monitoramento temporal do parâmetro resistividade, entender a dinâmica da geração e fluxo do chorume na área do aterro. Para tanto, o levantamento geofísico contou com 12 linhas de tomografia elétrica, adquiridas durante um período de 3 anos (2016, 2017 e 2018). Para complementar os resultados o método do potencial espontâneo foi aplicado na área no ano de 2018 com o objetivo de adicionar informações a respeito do estágio de degradação dos resíduos sólidos. Os resultados do parâmetro resistividade elétrica são apresentados em seções 2D e modelos de... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Landfills are the most widely used destination in the world for municipal solid waste due to their operational advantages. The installation, however, requires the development of several technological systems in order to ensure a safe and environmentally correct disposal of waste. Nevertheless, the contamination of the subsurface by leachate is recurrent. In view of these occurrences, it is necessary to investigate the area in order to find the faults in the landfill systems responsible for the contamination; propose projects for remediation and monitoring of the area. Therefore, this project predicted the application of the resistivity method in order to diagnose the sources of contamination and to detect possible point of percolation through the geomembrane. By means of a temporal monitoring the present project aimed to understand the leachate generation and flow in the landfill area. For this purpose, the geophysical survey consisted of 12 electrical tomography lines, acquired during a three-year acquisition period (2016, 2017 and 2018). To complement the results, the self-potential method was applied in the area in the year 2018 with the purpose of adding information about the solid waste degradation stage. The results of the resistivity parameter are presented in 2D sections and 3D visualization models with discussions for the superficial level of acquisition, for the geomembrane level (-4m) and for the aquifer level (-10m). The analysis over the years allowed the identif... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor