Global gene expression in Sorghum bicolor, an important crop showing drought tolerance in arid and semi-arid cultivated areas, was monitored to exposure of 8-days seedlings to water deficit (20% polyethylene glycol) or cold stress (4 ºC). A sorghum cDNA microarray, including ~13,000 (milestone version 1) or ~28,000 (milestone version 2) unigenes, was used to examine gene expression in shoots and roots at 3 and 27hours after stress treatment. ~1,300 and ~2,300 genes were modulated by water deficit and cold stress, respectively. Up-regulated genes included previously identified stressinduced genes such as early drought-induced gene, dehydrin, late embryogenesis abundant gene, glycin and proline-rich gene, and water stress-inducible genes as well as unknown genes. Genes involved in signal transduction, lipid metabolism, transporter, and carbohydrate metabolism are induced. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to quantify changes in relative mRNA abundance for 333 and 108 genes in response to water deficit and cold stress, respectively. Stress-induced genes were classified by kinetics. Eighteen of 108 cold-induced genes were modulated by cold but not by ABA and PEG treatment. This research provides the starting point for detailed analysis and comparison of water deficit and cold modulated gene networks in sorghum.

No description available.

Through employing a two-faceted approach to the sociological study of Attention Deficit- Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), this thesis seeks to further the study of this mental illness and also to elucidate new methodological directions for the sociology of similar phenomena. Past approaches in the sociology of mental disorder have considerable merit, but may also be limited in the type of analyses they offer. One particular limitation concerns sociological accounts of mental illness that portray the meaning of such illnesses as unified and that this unification results from the collusion of special interests. Sociologists who address mental illnesses as social problems, for example, appear wont to portray such illnesses as social constructions which arise from specific agents of labeling. With regard to ADHD, previous sociological accounts often make a case for the rhetorical and political power of government agencies, medical practitioners, and pharmaceutical companies. Though such agents are certainly influential in shaping public conceptions of ADHD, this thesis demonstrates that ADHD is interpreted in various ways. These assertions are supported through the analysis of two different data sources: 1) textual data; and 2) interview data. The textual data for the first part of the thesis comprises the subject matter for a genealogy of ADHD. Through examining past and contemporary texts that frame this disorder, including medical journal articles, medical manuals, popular writings, and parental guidebooks, the author argues that the historical and current discussions of ADHD are replete with differing interpretations of the causes and treatments for ADHD. These ADHD discourses, as they are seen through written accounts, offer a variety of perspectives towards the disorder, drawing from many opposing schools of thought. Most notable in this regard are psychodynamic and neurological approaches to ADHD. I argue that even though the neurological perspective towards ADHD appears to be the most dominant in diagnosing and treating the disorder, it is far from monolithic. ' The second part of the thesis draws upon interview data from sixty-two respondents associated with cases of ADHD: twenty clinicians, twenty parents, and twenty-two teachers. Each of these groups of respondents were asked questions designed to solicit their subjective experiences with the disorder, including how they perceived ADHD children and their sources of ADHD knowledge. The analysis of such data is placed against the backdrop of the genealogical part of the thesis. Responses from participants are examined as reflecting ADHD discourses. Some respondents, for example, demonstrate a commitment to neurological perspectives towards ADHD, while others gravitate towards psychodynamic or combined understandings of the disorder. Through combining these two data sources, this thesis analyzes ADHD discourses that give rise to conceptions of the disorder and shows how these discourses influence attitudes and actions towards ADHD. By giving less salience to the collusive relationships between government agencies, medical practitioners, and pharmaceutical companies, and by putting more focus on the relationship between the three major groupings directly involved in the ADHD experience—clinicians, teachers, and parents—this thesis furthers the sociological study of ADHD.

The purpose of this study was to determine if a set of twelve financial ratios developed from revenue and expenditure characteristics of Indiana public school corporations in 1998, 1999, and 2000 could forecast a district's financial condition in 2001 and 2002. The study was limited to the statutory general fund which finances a district's day-to-day instructional expenditures. A district's financial status was determined by computing a composite financial status ratio (CFSR) using the district's annual net revenues and expenditures for 2001 and 2002. The relationship of twelve independent variables was examined with the CFSR continuum using multiple linear regression analyses. The population of the study included 286 of the 293 public school corporations in Indiana. The findings of the study found: (1) 94.4 percent of Indiana's public school corporations were considered non-financially distressed and 5.6 percent were considered financially distressed; (2) four independent variables were identified as significant and practical predictors of a district's financial condition: annual spending, December 31st encumbered cash balance, biannual spending, and annual expenditures/ADM ratios; (3) three independent variables were significant; however, the variables were not considered functional predictors of a district's financial condition: personnel/annual expenditure, certified instruction/personnel expenditure, and local property tax/annual revenue; and (4) four independent variables were not significant and were unable to predict a school district's financial condition: December 31S` net cash balance, employee benefit/annual expenditure, student growth, and school size impact factor ratios. The conclusions indicate: (1) financial ratios can be utilized by administrators to forecast a district's financial condition; (2) several financial ratios capable of forecasting a district's financial condition are under the management control of administrators; (3) financial ratios vary in the period of time they are capable of predicting a district's financial condition; (4) all statistically significant financial ratios may not be consistent predictors of a district's financial condition; (5) not all financial ratios serve as predictors of a district's financial condition even though the ratios provide important financial information; and (6) combined multiple year financial data, in addition to single year data, can be utilized to enhance the model's ability to predict a district's financial condition. / Department of Educational Leadership

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Russell Schachar.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file plus two media files. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on May 1, 2009) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. Spec.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: A, page: 2323. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-60).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.