No description available.

No description available.

This study analyzes the intersection of multiple cultural themes and discourses present in discussion of the alternative menstrual hygiene product, the menstrual cup. Through the qualitative research methods of first-person interviewing and autoethnography, the study forms the characteristics of the American menstrual cultural model and how the model upheld by menstrual cup users differs from it. The study finds that access to alternative channels of information and an innate or learned acceptance of the body and bodily processes were indicators of whether or not an individual would be receptive to the cup. The mainstream consciousness was unlikely to foster bodily acceptance. Bodily acceptance was more likely encountered in individuals with interests invested in activities and lifestyle practices more likely to be labeled “alternative.” Using the cup also had a positive feedback effect in that it habituated users to and made them feel more comfortable with their bodies.

Field, glasshouse and laboratory experiments and field surveys were done in Western Australia to develop control strategies for various non-persistently aphid-borne viruses of grain legumes, celery and carrots and for the fungally-transmitted lettuce big vein disease (LBVD). In a range of legumes, extreme resistance to Alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) was found in Vicia faba cv. Ascot, Hedysarum coronarium cv. Grimaldi, and Lens culinaris IL5480, to Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) in Lathyrus cicera ATC80521, L. clymenum C7022, Ornithopus sativus cv. Cadiz, and V. sativus cv. Languedoc, and to Pea seedborne mosaic virus (PSbMV) in all accessions and varieties of Cicer arietinum and L. culinaris and some of L. sativus and most pasture legumes tested. No sources of extreme resistance to Carrot virus Y (CarVY) was found to carrot germplasm. The first reports of seed transmission of AMV in Vicia faba and of CMV in Pisum sativum, V. faba, V. narbonensis and eight pasture legumes were made. No evidence for the seed transmission of CarVY was found. Plants of V. faba infected early with AMV recovered while plants infected later incurred yield losses (up to 45%). In contrast, plants of C. arietinum infected with AMV when young were killed. L. culinaris plants infected with AMV and CMV suffered high yield losses (up to 90%) dependent on the age of plants when they were infected. Plants of lettuce infected with LBVD when young often failed to form ‘hearts’ but leaf symptoms were mild, whereas later infected plants had more severe leaf symptoms. Spatial patterns of disease spread were monitored and implications for disease control discussed for CarVY and LBVD. The incidence of CarVY in carrot crops was often high in a wide selection of varieties grown throughout Australia. CarVY was determined to have a wide host range within the Apiaceae family but not in other plant families. No evidence for reservoirs of CarVY was found in species other than carrot, despite extensive surveys of known Apiaceous hosts. CarVY was readily transmitted by a wide range of aphid species in a non-persistent manner. Control strategies for Celery mosaic virus (CeMV), by instigation of a ‘celery free period’ and LBVD by combining resistant lettuce varieties and plastic mulch were demonstrated. New control measures for AMV, CMV, PSbMV and CarVY were also discussed.

Researchers decided to explore whether diatomaceous earths (DEs) might meet the grain protection demands of rural households. These inert dusts are non-toxic to mammals but deadly to insects absorbing the wax from the insect’s cuticle which leads to water loss and death. Following laboratory studies, promising commercial DEs were trialled collaboratively by researchers and farmers as grain protectants in Zimbabwe. Protect-lt and Dryacide applied at 0.1%w/w were as effective as the synthetic conventional insecticide, Actellic Super dust, in limiting insect damage on stored maize, sorghum and cowpea grains for periods of eight months. However, laboratory studies revealed that the devastating larger grain borer now spread throughout many African countries was more tolerant to DEs than the storage pests found in Zimbabwe. This initiated the testing of DEs in combination with other products. Higher DE application rates of 0.25%w/w, a DE-pyrethroid combination and a local African DE were successfully tested by farmers in Tanzania. During this work the importance of the link between a potential technology such as DEs and the wider post-harvest service provision context became clearer. This led to the exploration of this context using: an enquiry approach to learn about post-harvest decision making amongst diverse rural households; and an experimental learning process to empower farmers. As the nature of the different stakeholders within the agricultural innovation system and their information requirements became more central to the work, the importance of the patterns of interaction amongst them and associated attitudes was repeatedly revealed. A learning alliance of key post-harvest stakeholders was established to explore and test opportunities for stakeholders to work together differently to help overcome institutional and other constraints.

Lying is a restful, high priority behaviour for dairy cows which can be affected by various factors associated with production but is not directly related to productivity. As such, lying behaviour has potential for use as an indicator of welfare. Information in the literature regarding the effect of stage of lactation on lying behaviour was contradictory and information on optimum lying behaviour and maximum bout lengths was scarce. The aim of this study was to improve knowledge in these areas and find a way of using lying behaviour to assess welfare. Pregnant heifers were observed at pasture in order to describe lying behaviour in conditions that may be considered optimum. Lying behaviour at pasture was characterised as having 10.5 h total lying time per 24h, few (6-7) lying bouts and a long maximum bout length (3.5h). The effect of two very different levels of production on the lying behaviour of heifers during their first lactation and housing period was compared. Although total lying times did not change much over the lactation, early location was associated with disturbed lying behaviour (increased lying frequency and short bout lengths) and indicators of metabolic challenge in low input heifers. High input heifers however, showed more disturbance later in lactation associated with being moved to another feeding group. Two pilot studies were carried out to investigate cows' preferences for cubicles with mats or mattresses and to compare lying behaviour on the two surfaces. Social factors appeared to affect preference and lying behaviour. Consequently total lying times were very low (less than 8h) and preferences were not clear. However, lying times were low even in a group of undisturbed late lactation cows and the pattern of lying (number of bouts and maximum bout length) was similar to that of heifers at grass.

Over the last three decades, concern about food safety and the management of natural resources has increased. Instigated by the previous EU pesticide review, (EU 91/414) carrot growers in particular have been hit by the revocation of several post-emergence herbicides. There is real concern among growers that this may impair profits. To identify alternative weed control strategies, a modelling framework capable of simulating the impact of alternative weed management strategies on long-term weed population dynamics, was proposed. Scentless mayweed (Tripleurospermum inodorum) was chosen as model weed species. The system represented in ECOSEDYN (Effects of Cultural control and climate On SEedbank DYN For each component model in ECOSEDYN the literature was reviewed to identify the best mathematical representation and then the model was parameterised. To improve accuracy of model projections and address gaps in knowledge, field experiments were conducted in two areas: soil cultivation, and plant growth and reproduction. The results of the cultivation experiments revealed that key assumptions in models for weed seed re-distribution are incorrect. The experiments focusing on plant growth and reproduction resulted in a novel approach to the modeling of biomass increase, flowering and seed shedding where the different processes were quantitatively and temporally linked using Beta functions. amics), comprises a six-year crop rotation: one year of carrot and five years winter wheat and repeated four times. The weed management strategies consist of combinations of cultural control measures (sowing time and crop maturity time). In addition, the interaction of climate with the cultural control measures was assessed by implementing two future climate scenarios, (‘No change’ vs ‘Heating up’) based on weather data over the last 18 years. The results of the ECOSEDYN simulations showed that, regardless of the prevailing climate, choosing a fast maturing carrot cultivar is by far the most important factor in maintaining the weed seedbank low. In addition, the risk for higher seedbank levels in the long-term under ‘Heating up’ climate is largest if carrot is continuously sown late.

MYB90 and MYB75 are two MYB transcription factors that regulate anthocyanin biosynthesis in Arabidopsis. Prior to this study a microarray experiment indicated that MYB90 was required for senescence associated anthocyanin biosynthesis. The role of MYB90 during senescence was investigated using a MYB90 knockout insertion mutant, IM28. Gene expression studies at different time points during the development of the seventh rosette leaf showed that MYB90 regulates anthocyanin biosynthesis genes and MYB75 during senescence. The absence of MYB90 expression reduced photosynthetic performance at two time points during development. Analysis of anthocyanin and flavonoid content showed that there was reduced anthocyanin biosynthesis in the absence of MYB90 expression. The role of MYB90 and MYB75 during high light stress was investigated by analysing the photosynthetic performance and anthocyanin content of high light treated IM28 and MYB75 RNAi plants. MYB90 is required for increased resistance during high light stress, which reflected anthocyanin levels. However, there was eventual compensation for the absence of MYB90 expression in prolonged high light stress. MYB75 was also required for increased resistance to high light stress, but this was not reflected in the anthocyanin levels. The spatial and temporal regulation of MYB90 and MYB75 was investigated using transgenic plants containing promoter: GUS fusions. MYB90 promoter activity was mainly localised to vascular tissue during senescence and low nitrogen/high glucose treatment. MYB75 showed differential tissue specificity in different treatments. The transcriptional regulation of the MYB90 promoter was analysed using promoter deletion GUS: fusions. A senescence specific activation region and a repressor region of the promoter were identified.

Concerns regarding carbon emissions, increasing demands on water supplies and environmental pollution have meant that the European protected horticulture industry is being challenged to develop more sustainable greenhouse climate management systems. These new systems can however potentially impact on pest and disease (P & D) pressures and the efficacy of biological control agents (BCAs). This thesis aimed to use a combination of experimental work and simulation models to compare novel and traditional greenhouse climate management scenarios in Spain and the Netherlands using two model P & D systems. These were Oidium neolycopersici (powdery mildew) and its BCA, Bacillus subtilis, on tomato, and Tetranychus urticae (the two-spotted spider mite) and its BCA, Phytoseiulus persimilis, on ornamentals. Experiments showed that latent period, disease development and sporulation of Oidium neolycopersici were strongly influenced by temperatures between 10-33°C and that the control efficacy of B. subtilis was significantly influenced by temperature and humidity in the ranges 10-33°C and 50-95% RH. The functional response of P. persimilis was found to be significantly affected by ambient humidities of 57-99% RH, with predation highest at 85% RH and lowest below 76% RH. These results, in combination with existing data, were used to construct dynamic P & D models. A greenhouse climate model, based on observed temperatures in European greenhouses, was constructed to provide data on the diurnal and seasonal variation in temperature and humidity for different climate management scenarios. The predictions from the P & D models allowed climate control regimes in different greenhouses in Spain and the Netherlands to be identified, which minimised P & D pressures and maximised the efficacy of the BCAs. The implications of these findings for greenhouse climate management are discussed.

Bulb initiation is a process which is photoperiodically driven, drawing parallels with flowering. Photoperiodic flowering is well characterised at molecular and genetic levels and occurs when photoreceptors interact with the circadian clock, regulating the expression of CONSTANS (CO), which itself regulates the expression of floral pathway integrating genes such as FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), leading to floral initiation. Two genes which regulate CO transcription are FLAVIN-BINDING, KELCH REPEAT, F-BOX (FKF1) and GIGANTEA (GI). The onion genome is very large with a high level of duplication, presenting challenges for any molecular-based study. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that genes controlling daylength response are conserved between the model plant Arabidopsis and onion and hence between the different end-processes bulbing and flowering. Bulbing ratios were used to measure the response of onion plants to long day (LD) and short day (SD) conditions and the reversibility of the bulbing process. It was shown that bulbing is reversible, with a delay when plants are transferred from SDs to LDs, suggesting the accumulation of an inhibitor. Diurnal expression patterns of onion genes homologous to Arabidopsis flowering time genes were examined using quantitative RT-PCR. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted to validate the identity of the homologues. Molecular and phylogenetic data suggests that an onion GIGANTEA (GI) homologue was isolated. Peaks of expression of ZT10 in LDs and ZT7 in SDs mirror the expression of Arabidopsis GI. Homologues of FKF1 and the circadian clock gene ZEITLUPE (ZTL) were also characterised. The putative FKF1 homologue showed different expression patterns in varieties exhibiting different daylength responses. These differences may contribute to the different daylength responses. A CO-like gene, which is closely related to Arabidopsis COL4, and three FT-like genes were also characterised. It appears that many of the genes controlling daylength response are conserved in onion.