Trajan conquered Dacia in 106 CE and encouraged one of the largest colonization efforts in the history of the Roman Empire. The new province was rich in natural resources. Immigrants from Dalmatia, Moesia, Noricum, Pannonia, Greece, Syria, Bithynia, Italy, indigenous Dacians, and soldiers from Legio XIII Gemina participated in the extraction of gold from the Apuseni Mountains. The inhabitants of mining settlements around Alburnus Maior and the administrative center Ampelum coexisted under Roman governance but continued to mark their identities in multicultural communities. At Alburnus Maior the presence of wage laborers with access to outside materials and ideas created the opportunity for miners to communicate identity through mediums that have survived. A series of wax tablet legal contracts, altars, and funerary monuments can be combined with recent archaeological data from settlements, burials, and the mines themselves to formulate the broad view necessary to examine the intricacies of group and self-expression. Through this evidence, Alburnus Maior offers a case study for how mobility and colonization in the ancient world could impact identity. Due to the pressures of coping within a multicultural community, miners formed settlements that were central to their daily lives and facilitated the embodiment of state, community, and personal identities. Identity changes over time and can simultaneously communicate several ideas that are hard to categorize. This study approaches this challenge by looking from macro to micro contexts that influenced several expressions of identity. Chapter 2 begins with a historical background that explores the expansion of the Roman Empire and considers how different experiences of conquest influenced the colonists who immigrated to Dacia. The circumstances that led to the massive colonization of Dacia are also considered. Chapter 3 describes how the mines at Alburnus Maior were exploited, who was present, and assesses the impact of state officials, legionaries, and elite entrepreneurs on the formation and expression of state identity through cult, law, and language. The formation of immigrant communities and the working conditions that permeated everyday life at the mines are then considered in the next chapter. Settlement, cult, and religious membership are evaluated for their role in creating and articulating community identities. Chapter 5 then analyzes the personal and sometimes private expression of identity that appears in commemoration, naming conventions, and burial. The three levels of state, community, and personal identities often overlap and collectively show that the hybridization of ideas from several cultures was central to how those at Alburnus Maior negotiated their identity in the Roman Empire.

The natural environments of organisms present a multitude of biotic and abiotic challenges that require both short-term ecological and long-term evolutionary responses. Though most environmental response studies have focused on effects at the ecosystem, community and organismal levels, the ultimate controls of these responses are located in the genome of the organism. Soil nematodes are highly responsive to, and display a wide variety of responses to changing environmental conditions, making them ideal models for the study of organismal interactions with their environment. In an attempt to examine responses to environmental stress (desiccation and freezing), genomic level analyses of gene expression during anhydrobiosis of the Antarctic nematode Plectus murrayi was undertaken. An EST library representative of the desiccation induced transcripts was established and the transcripts differentially expressed during desiccation stress were identified. The expressed genome of P. murrayi showed that desiccation survival in nematodes involves differential expression of a suite of genes from diverse functional areas, and constitutive expression of a number of stress related genes. My study also revealed that exposure to slow desiccation and freezing plays an important role in the transcription of stress related genes, improves desiccation and freezing survival of nematodes. Deterioration of traits essential for biological control has been recognized in diverse biological control agents including insect pathogenic nematodes. I studied the genetic mechanisms behind such deterioration using expression profiling. My results showed that trait deterioration of insect pathogenic nematode induces substantial overall changes in the nematode transcriptome and exhibits a general pattern of metabolic shift causing massive changes in metabolic and other processes. Finally, through field observations and molecular laboratory experiments the validity of the growth rate hypothesis in natural populations of Antarctic nematodes was tested. My results indicated that elemental stoichiometry influences evolutionary adaptations in gene expression and genome evolution. My study, in addition to providing immediate insight into the mechanisms by which multicellular animals respond to their environment, is transformative in its potential to inform other fundamental ecological and evolutionary questions, such as the evolution of life-history patterns and the relationship between community structure and ecological function in ecosystems.

Clostridium perfringens entérotoxinogène figure parmi les principales causes de toxi-infection alimentaire dans le monde. L’utilisation d’une approche par culture bactérienne classique pour isoler C. perfringens entérotoxinogène dans la viande de volailles est courante. Cependant, cette méthode d’isolement de ce microorganisme s’appuie sur le phénotype d’une double hémolyse attribuable, alors que peu des souches entérotoxinogènes de C. perfringens n’en produisent. Cet aspect complique ainsi l’étude des réservoirs de cet important pathogène. Les objectifs de cette étude étaient de valider la capacité d’une sonde marquée à la digoxigénine à détecter le gène cpe codant pour l’entérotoxine de C. perfringens et de valider l’utilisation d'une approche d'isolement combinée à l'hybridation sur colonie pour détecter C. perfringens entérotoxinogène. Des échantillons de liquides de rinçage de carcasses de poulets de chair ont été utilisés pour la réalisation de la présente étude. L’ADN et colonies lysées de souches entérotoxingènes de C. perfringens, et des échantillons de liquides de rinçage de carcasses de poulets de chair ont été soumis à la méthode d'hybridation sur colonie afin d'identifier la présence du gène cpe de C. perfringens. Les résultats de cette étude ont montré que la sonde d’ADN synthétisée est spécifique et sensible, permettant ainsi la détection du gène cpe de C. perfringens à partir de séquences d’ADN et de colonies lysées d’une souche contrôle de C. perfringens positifs au gène cpe, mais aussi à partir de colonies isolées des échantillons de liquides de rinçage de carcasses de poulets de chair contaminés artificiellement par C. perfringens entérotoxinogène. Notre étude suggère que cette méthode d’isolement combinée à l’hybridation sur colonie permet de récupérer C. perfringens entérotoxinogène à partir d’échantillons de liquides de rinçage de carcasses de poulets de chair. / Enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens is one of the main causes of foodborne illness worldwide. The use of a conventional bacterial culture approach to isolate enterotoxigenic C. perfringens from poultry meat is common. However, this method relies on the phenotype of attributable double hemolysis, whereas few enterotoxigenic strains of C. perfringens produce it. This aspect complicates the study of the reservoirs of this important pathogen. The objectives of this study were to validate the ability of a digoxigenin-labeled probe to detect the cpe gene encoding C. perfringens enterotoxin and to validate the use of an isolation approach combined with hybridization on colony to detect enterotoxigenic C. perfringens. DNA and pure colonies of enterotoxigenic strains of C. perfringens, and samples of broiler carcass rinses were subjected to the colony hybridization method to identify the presence of the cpe gene encoding the C. perfringens enterotoxin. The results of the present study revealed that the synthesized DNA probe is sensitive, thus allowing the detection of the cpe gene of C. perfringens from DNA sequences and from lysed colonies of a control strain of C. perfringens positive for the cpe gene. The probe also hybridized to the DNA of lyzed colonies isolated from carcass rinsates artificially contaminated with cpe-positive C. perfringens. Our study suggests that this isolation method combined with colony hybridization allows the recovery of enterotoxigenic C. perfringens from broiler carcass rinse fluid samples.

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Renewable energy for energy production, like Solar, is turning out to be very pertinent in today's world [1]. It is very clear that Solar Energy is going to emerge as one of the key sources of energy in future. Moreover, the storage option is going to play an essential role to the future deployment of solar power plants. Concentrated solar power plants with thermal storage, photovoltaic plants integrated with battery energy storage, and hybrid plants are attractive solutions to obtain a stable and dispatchable energy production. Investors or policymakers usually find it challenging to come up with the most feasible solar storage technology because they need to consider techno-economic feasibility, and at the same time, from a market or administrative perspective as well. So, this thesis study will address the key problem which is aimed at investors or policymakers since there is a need to choose the best solar storage technology at a utility level in future based on so many attributes. The thesis project was carried out in two phases which includes forecast modelling & estimations and techno-economic assessment of virtual plants. These two phases helped to address various questions in relation to the problem statement of this study. The entire thesis study broadly covered seven countries spanning across four major regions around the world. The first phase of the thesis, forecast modelling estimations shows how the seven countries will look in future (2020 – 2050) with respect to installed capacity and costs for PV, CSP, and BESS technologies. Some major results from phase 1 include, in low-cost estimates, China will remain to be the market leader in PV & CSP by 2050. In U.S.A and India, the installed costs of PV are projected to decline by 70% by 2050. By 2050, the installed costs of Solar Tower technology are estimated to drop by about 65% in China and Spain. In U.S.A, the prices of BESS technology are likely to fall by around 58 – 60 % by 2050. In the second phase of thesis study, a techno-economic evaluation of virtual plants addressed the aspects which are to be considered for a solar project if it is deployed in future across seven specific countries. Results from this analysis helps investors or policymakers to choose the cheapest solar storage technology at a utility level across seven specific countries in future (2020 – 2050). Key results from this analysis show that, in the U.S.A, by 2050, PV+BESS will be the cheapest storage technology for 4 – 10 storage hours. Addition of another renewable technology will add up more viability to the comparison. In China, Hybrid will be the cheapest storage technology for 4 – 8 hrs by 2050. There is huge potential for deployment of CSP & hybrid plants in future than PV. In South Africa, CSP will be the cheapest storage technology by 2050 for 4 – 10 hours of storage. It is assumed that deployment of BESS projects at utility level starts from 2025 in South Africa. Beyond this, market forces analysis was carried out which offers insights especially for the policymakers of how various drivers and constraints are influencing each solar technology across the specific countries in future. Overall, the entire thesis study provides guidelines/insights to investors or policy makers for choosing the best solar storage technology in future at a utility scale for a particular country. / Förnybar energi för energiproduktion, liksom Solar, visar sig vara mycket relevant i dagens värld [1]. Det är mycket tydligt att solenergi kommer att framstå som en av de viktigaste energikällorna i framtiden. Dessutom kommer lagringsalternativet att spela en väsentlig roll för den framtida distributionen av solkraftverk. Koncentrerade solkraftverk med värmelagring, solcellsanläggningar integrerade med batterilagring och hybridanläggningar är attraktiva lösningar för att få en stabil och skickbar energiproduktion. Investerare eller beslutsfattare brukar tycka att det är utmanande att komma på den mest genomförbara solcellstekniken eftersom de måste överväga teknikekonomisk genomförbarhet, och samtidigt, ur ett marknads- eller administrativt perspektiv också. Så denna avhandlingsstudie kommer att ta itu med nyckelproblemet som riktar sig till investerare eller beslutsfattare eftersom det finns ett behov av att välja den bästa solenergilagringstekniken på en användningsnivå i framtiden baserat på så många attribut. Avhandlingsprojektet genomfördes i två faser som inkluderar prognosmodellering och uppskattningar och teknikekonomisk bedömning av virtuella anläggningar. Dessa två faser hjälpte till att ta itu med olika frågor i samband med problemstudien i denna studie. Hela avhandlingsstudien omfattade i stort sju länder som sträcker sig över fyra stora regioner runt om i världen. Den första fasen i avhandlingen, prognosmodelleringsuppskattningar visar hur de sju länderna kommer att se ut i framtiden (2020 - 2050) med avseende på installerad kapacitet och kostnader för PV-, CSP- och BESS -teknik. Några viktiga resultat från fas 1 inkluderar, i lågkostnadsuppskattningar, att Kina kommer att vara marknadsledande inom PV och CSP år 2050. I USA och Indien beräknas de installerade kostnaderna för PV minska med 70% år 2050. Av 2050 beräknas de installerade kostnaderna för Solar Tower -teknik sjunka med cirka 65% i Kina och Spanien. I USA kommer priserna på BESS -teknik sannolikt att sjunka med cirka 58 - 60 % år 2050. I den andra fasen av avhandlingsstudien behandlade en teknikekonomisk utvärdering av virtuella anläggningar de aspekter som ska övervägas för ett solprojekt om det används i framtiden i sju specifika länder. Resultaten från denna analys hjälper investerare eller beslutsfattare att välja den billigaste solenergilagringstekniken på en användningsnivå i sju specifika länder i framtiden (2020 - 2050). Viktiga resultat från denna analys visar att i USA, år 2050, kommer PV+BESS att vara den billigaste lagringstekniken på 4 - 10 lagringstimmar. Tillägg av en annan förnybar teknik kommer att öka jämförbarheten. I Kina kommer Hybrid att vara den billigaste lagringstekniken i 4-8 timmar fram till 2050. Det finns en enorm potential för distribution av CSP & hybridanläggningar i framtiden än PV. I Sydafrika kommer CSP att vara den billigaste lagringstekniken år 2050 för 4 - 10 timmars lagring. Det antas att distributionen av BESS -projekt på verktygsnivå börjar från 2025 i Sydafrika. Utöver detta genomfördes marknadskravsanalys som ger insikter speciellt för beslutsfattarna om hur olika drivkrafter och begränsningar påverkar varje solteknik i de specifika länderna i framtiden. Sammantaget ger hela avhandlingsstudien riktlinjer/insikter till investerare eller beslutsfattare för att välja den bästa solenergitekniken i framtiden i en nyttoskala för ett visst land.

Ultra-thin solar cells that incorporate earth-abundant and non-toxic materials are promising candidates in the endeavor toward sustainable energy harvesting. Methods to counteract the inevitable low absorption of thinner semiconductor layers are of high interest and have raised considerable attention in the research society. In an attempt to increase the absorption of these types of assemblies, optical coupling effects between the localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) of disordered Au nanostructures and a Fabry-Pérot cavity were studied using a previously established absorber/spacer/reflector stack. The disordered Au array was fabricated by evaporating a thin Au film on a substrate with a 55 nm SiO2 dielectric spacer and a 100 nm Al reflecting film, followed by thermal annealing. Nominal Au film thicknesses in the range of 5-25 Å and annealing temperatures of 200-500 oC were investigated. In situ spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements during the subsequent atomic layer deposition (ALD) of tin monosulfide (SnS) allowed analysis of how the optical properties of the SnS/Au absorber layer changed as a function of the growing SnS layer thickness. By employing the Transfer Matrix Method with the estimated optical properties from the in situ analysis, the absorptance of the absorber/spacer/reflector stacks was simulated as a function of the spacer thickness, revealing any signs of the characteristic anti-crossing behavior. It was discovered that a nominal Au film thickness of 25 Å, annealed at 450 oC, and coated with a SnS film of ∼13 nm primed toward the π-phase, resulted in strong optical coupling between the cavity mode and the LSPR. The energy difference at the avoided crossing in the specular reflectance measurement gave an estimated Rabi-splitting energy of 537 meV. This corresponded to about 40% of the original LSPR energy, placing itself within the ultra-strong coupling regime. To evaluate the relevance of the thin-layered structure in photovoltaic applications, more advanced computational methods are required to estimate the useful absorption that occurs in the SnS layer. Nevertheless, these results elucidate the realization of strong optical coupling effects between disordered Au nanostructures and a Fabry-Pérot cavity, and further the possibility of using scalable fabrication methods for this type of ultra-thin absorber/spacer/reflector stack.

No / During development, multipotent progenitor cells establish tissue-specific programs of gene expression. In this paper, we show that p63 transcription factor, a master regulator of epidermal morphogenesis, executes its function in part by directly regulating expression of the genome organizer Satb1 in progenitor cells. p63 binds to a proximal regulatory region of the Satb1 gene, and p63 ablation results in marked reduction in the Satb1 expression levels in the epidermis. Satb1(-/-) mice show impaired epidermal morphology. In Satb1-null epidermis, chromatin architecture of the epidermal differentiation complex locus containing genes associated with epidermal differentiation is altered primarily at its central domain, where Satb1 binding was confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation-on-chip analysis. Furthermore, genes within this domain fail to be properly activated upon terminal differentiation. Satb1 expression in p63(+/-) skin explants treated with p63 small interfering ribonucleic acid partially restored the epidermal phenotype of p63-deficient mice. These data provide a novel mechanism by which Satb1, a direct downstream target of p63, contributes in epidermal morphogenesis via establishing tissue-specific chromatin organization and gene expression in epidermal progenitor cells.