The studies described in this thesis investigate the role of indirect effects in invasion biology. The Introduction provides a brief overview of indirect effects and an outline of the thesis structure. The role of indirect effects in the context of invasion biology is addressed in an in-depth published literature review that comprises the second chapter, providing a theoretical background for the subsequent empirical studies. Chapters Three to Six are comprised of manuscripts that have been published or are under review or in press, which describe studies that investigate the importance of indirect effects in invasion biology using a model system consisting of the alien Asteraceae Senecio madagascariensis, a closelyrelated native, Senecio pinnatifolius, and the insect species with which they interact. Senecio madagascariensis and S. pinnatifolius occur in a similar geographic range in eastern Australia and these studies were conducted in mixed and pure populations of the two species. The herbivore and floral visitor assemblages of the two Senecio species at seven field sites in South-east Queensland were compared using sweep-net sampling, manual searching and floral visitor observation techniques. The floral visitor assemblages were similar between the two species, comprised largely of species of Syrphidae and the European honeybee, Apis mellifera. Herbivore assemblages, however, were highly variable both between species and between sites, with greater herbivore abundance and diversity recorded on the native S. pinnatifolius than its alien congener. The most commonly recorded herbivores were sap-sucking species such as Myridae. The magpie moth, Nyctemera amica was the most common folivore on both Senecio species and laboratory studies demonstrated a clear preference by ovipositing females and feeding larvae of this species for the native Senecio species, over the alien. Field surveys supported these findings, recording greater leaf damage on the native species than the invader. Herbivory levels were lower, rather than higher, in mixed populations than in pure populations, thus there was no evidence that the presence of one species enhanced herbivory in the other. Field pollination trials were conducted to determine whether competition for pollinators or facilitation of pollination occurred in mixed Senecio populations. The presence of the native S. pinnatifolius affected pollinator visitation rates to the alien Senecio; bee visits to S. madagascariensis were significantly reduced by the presence of S. pinnatifolius, whilst syrphid visits increased. However, altered visitation rates were not reflected in seed set. The presence of the alien species had no impact on pollinator visits to the native. Surprisingly, S. pinnatifolius seed set was higher in mixed populations than in pure populations. This might be due to abiotic factors, lower rates of herbivory at these sites or transfer of pollen between species resulting in the production of hybrid seed (if S. madagascariensis has greater male fitness). Hybridisation in the field was investigated using AFLP techniques. No mature hybrid plants were recorded in mixed populations, but hybrid seeds were produced by both species. Senecio pinnatifolius maternal parents produced higher numbers of hybrid seed than expected based on the relative frequencies of the two species, whilst hybridisation in S. madagascariensis was lower than expected. This may indicate greater male fitness of the invader. A range of complex indirect interactions can occur between invasive and native species, with these interactions having the potential to influence the success or failure of the invader and its impacts on co-occurring natives. The Discussion addresses the findings of the studies described here in the context of invasion biology theory.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 205 p. Includes bibliographical references.

<p>This study concentrates on two questions – “Should banks take environmental concerns?”and “What is the attitude of Swedish banks towards sustainability?” The theory related to environmental concerns in the financial sector is presented and further on the empirical data</p><p>describing the situation within the Swedish banking sector is discussed. The empirical data was collected with the aid of a semi-structured interview and offers a real-life example of actions and attitudes of two case banks in Sweden – SEB and Handelsbanken. The aim of this paper is not restricted to presenting and discussing the collected theoretical and empirical data but also to involve the reader in the environmental way of thinking. This text is based on</p><p>the idea that banks are liable for the indirect impact on the environment and need to acknowledge that some borrowers involve in environmentally harmful businesses. The research method used for this study is of a qualitative nature, more precisely it is an exploratory research which aims to explain. The semi-structured interview used to study the attitudes of the chosen Swedish case banks, was composed of two types of questions – closed- and open-ended. Special characteristics of a semi-structured interview are the prompts and probes in its structure. These are the approaches to guide the respondent to reach broader coverage and greater depth in his/her answers.</p><p>Through the interview results, it became evident that the environmental issues have gained certain visibility within the Swedish banking sector. The given answers pointed towards the impression that maintaining a sound corporate image is the prior concern of a bank and</p><p>indicated that banking sector in Sweden undergoes external pressure to pursue environmentally friendly activities. It is clear that banks play a major role by financing the continuous damage to our planet, and it is comforting to know the banking sector is undergoing the pressure of becoming more involved in sustainable development. The</p><p>conclusions and the empirical evidence presented in this study are hoped to give a simplified view on environmental concerns within banking sector.</p>

Hard diffraction in proton collisions, where the initial state proton emerges from the interaction rather undisturbed despite a hard interaction scale, has been studied for a few decades. First observed in proton-proton collisions, the phenomenon is seen as well in deep inelastic electron-proton scattering (DIS) as a leading final state proton and a rapidity gap-region without final state particles. Although a rather successful description in terms of the exchange of a hadronic color singlet pomeron with a parameterized gluon content exists, it is still an open question whether a theoretically more well-founded description can be obtained based on quantum chromodynamics. The soft color interaction model (SCI) attempts this through additional gluon exchanges at momentum scales below the conventional scale of perturbative QCD and the hadronization scale. Such gluons can lead to an effective color singlet exchange and therefore to diffraction. This thesis explores the phenomenology of the SCI model in diffractive W and photon+jet production. For diffractive deep inelastic scattering, a dynamic color screening model is developed based on a summed amplitude for soft gluon exchanges. The studies of the model within Monte Carlo event simulation show that the additional dynamics improve the description of electron-positron scattering data from HERA. Dijet events in proton-proton collisions with an upper limit on the energy flow between the jets is sensitive to large angle gluon emissions. This thesis applies a resummation method which takes into account also secondary emissions to describe this observable and shows that a good description of data from ATLAS can be achieved. Supersymmetric extensions to the Standard Model provide a possible explanation for dark matter in the universe. The next-to-minimal supersymmetric extension (NMSSM) can contain a dark matter candidate in form of the lightest neutralino with a substantial singlino component. This thesis studies the prospects for indirect detection of dark matter for such viable NMSSM model points via the observation of neutrinos from neutralino annihilation in the sun with IceCube and the future extension PINGU. It is shown that with a few years of data taking large parts of the parameter space can be excluded or a discovery be made.

Growth hormone signaling influences longevity but the mechanism through which decreased GH action extends lifespan in mice is unknown. It is likely that the key to understanding this phenomenon, and the process of aging itself, is to understand the alterations in metabolism caused by decreased GH action. We investigated changes in energy metabolism in long-lived mice, in hope that these findings can suggest means of improving human health and longevity. These studies consisted of three projects. The influence of altered GH signaling on metabolism was tested by monitoring oxygen consumption, respiratory quotient, and heat production. Intriguingly, long-lived mice have increased oxygen consumption, and decreased respiratory quotient; while short lived mice had opposite effects. These data indicate that decreased GH signaling associates with increased metabolism per unit of body weight and may beneficially affect mitochondrial flexibility by increasing the capacity for fat oxidation; while GH excess generally produces opposite metabolic effects. We then hypothesized that the metabolic characteristics observed in young long-lived mice would persist into old age. Further, we investigated whether caloric restriction or every-other-day diet, two life extending feeding regimens, had any interaction with the metabolic phenotype observed in long-lived mice. The results support our hypothesis that the alterations in metabolism observed in young long-lived mice persist into old age. Neither dietary regimen significantly altered oxygen consumption in GHRKO mice, however, every-other-day diet reduced 24-hour oxygen consumption per gram body weight. These experiments showed that GHRKO mice had increased oxygen consumption regardless of age and life extending dietary interventions we placed them on. We hypothesized that increased oxygen consumption in long-lived mice is the result of increased thermogenesis. To test this hypothesis, we measured oxygen consumption in long-lived mice and controls at the standard lab temperature 23°C, and at 30°C, the murine thermoneutral temperature. When the oxygen consumption of long-lived mice was measured at 30°C, the differences between long-lived and normal mice measured at 23°C were abrogated. These data indicate that increased energy utilization for thermogenesis may contribute to extended longevity of these mutants. Collectively, our results provide important insights into the metabolic characteristics of long-lived mice.

Generations of historians have looked to Bengal, Bombay, and Madras to detect the emergence of the legal and administrative mechanisms that would underpin Britain’s nineteenth-century empire. Yet this focus on ‘British’ India overshadows the very different history of nearly half the Indian subcontinent, which was still ruled by nominally independent monarchs. This dissertation traces the increasingly asymmetrical relationships between the East India Company and neighbouring Indian kingdoms during a period of intensive British imperial expansion, from 1798 to 1818. In so doing, it sheds fresh light on the contested process through which the Company consolidated its political predominance over rival Indian powers, setting a precedent for indirect rule that would inform British policy in Southeast Asia and Africa for years to come. The relationship between the Company and Indian governments was mediated through the figure of the Resident, the Company’s political representative at Indian courts, and the Residents therefore lie at the heart of this dissertation. Given their geographical distance from British administrative centres and their immersion in Indian political culture, the Residents’ experiences can be used to chart the growing pains of an expanding, modernizing empire, and to elucidate the dynamics of cross-cultural interaction and exchange. Based on the letters and papers of the dozen Residents stationed at major Indian courts, this dissertation shows how practical and ideological divisions within the Company regarding the appropriate forms of imperial influence were exacerbated by mutual suspicions resulting from geographical distance and the blurring of personal and public interests in the diplomatic line. This process was further complicated and constrained by the Residents’ reliance on the social and cultural capital of Indian elites and administrators with interests of their own. The Company’s consolidation of political influence at Indian courts was fraught with problems, and the five thematic chapters reflect recurring points of conflict which thread their way through these formative years. These include: the fragility of information networks and the proliferation of rumours; questions about the use of force and the applicability of the law of nations outside Europe; controversies surrounding political pageantry and conspicuous consumption; ambivalent relationships between Residents and their Indian state secretaries; and the Residents’ embroilment in royal family feuds. Ultimately, this dissertation concludes that the imposition of imperial authority at Indian courts was far from smooth, consisting instead of a messy and protracted series of practical experiments based on many competing visions of the ideal forms of influence to be employed in India.

abstract: Novel resource inputs represent an increasingly common phenomenon in ecological systems as global change alters environmental factors and species distributions. In semiarid riparian areas, hydric pioneer tree species are being replaced by drought-tolerant species as water availability decreases. Additionally, introduced omnivorous crayfish, which feed upon primary producers, allochthonous detritus, and benthic invertebrates, can impact communities at multiple levels through both direct and indirect effects. In arid and semiarid systems of the American Southwest, crayfish may be especially important as detrital processors due to the lack of specialized detritivores. I tested the impact of virile crayfish (Orconectes virilis) on benthic invertebrates and detrital resources across a gradient of riparian vegetation drought-tolerance using field cages with leaf litter bags in the San Pedro River in Southeastern Arizona. Virile crayfish increased breakdown rate of drought-tolerant saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima), but did not impact breakdown of Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), Gooding's willow (Salix goodingii), or seepwillow (Baccharis salicifolia). The density and composition of the invertebrate community colonizing leaf litter bags were both heavily influenced by litter species but not directly by crayfish presence. As drought-tolerant species become more abundant in riparian zones, their litter will become a larger component of the organic matter budget of desert streams. By increasing breakdown rates of saltcedar, crayfish shift the composition of leaf litter in streams, which in turn may affect the composition and biomass of colonizing invertebrate communities. More research is needed to determine the full extent to which these alterations change community composition over time. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Biology 2012

Cette thèse est consacrée à l'étude expérimentale des excitons dans des puitsquantiques polaires fabriqués à partir de semi-conducteurs à large bande interdite. En raison de la structure de ces matériaux à cristaux wurtzite, les électrons et les trous sont séparés le long de l'axe de croissance du puits quantique, de sorte que les excitons peuvent être considérés comme des excitons indirects (IX) : ils forment une famille de quasi-particules bosoniques à longue durée de vie, dont le moment dipolaire est orienté selon l'axe de croissance du puits. Les IX sont considérés comme un système modéle pour l'étude des états collectifs dans les gaz quantiques bosoniques. Ils sont aussi prometteurs pour le développement de dispositifs excitoniques. Leur longue durée de vie, leur répulsion dipolaire, permettent aux IXs de se déplacer sur de grandes distances avant de se recombiner, ce qui offre la possibilité d'étudier le transport d'exciton par imagerie optique. Dans cette thèse, nous abordons le transport des IXs dans des puits quantiques de GaN/(Al,Ga)N et de ZnO/(Mg,Zn)O. Ce choix de matériau est motivé par l'énergie de liaison élevée des IXs ainsi obtenue. Elle est suffisamment élevée pour, en thèorie, stabiliser les IXs jusqu'à la température ambiante. Mais ce choix poseaussi un certain nombre de défis expérimentaux, car (i) le temps de vie radiatifdépend fortement de la densité d'excitons, ce qui rend la mesure de la densitéexcitonique très complexe ; (ii) la recombinaison non radiative activée thermiquement supprime le signal de photoluminescence excitonique à température ambiante ; (iii) la propagation excitonique coexiste avec une propagation photonique le long du plan du puit quantique, ce qui complique l'analyse ; (iv) il existe un fort champ électrique le long de l'axe de croissance, et aussi desuctuations dans l'épaisseur du puits quantique, ce qui crée un fort élargissement inhomogène de l'émission excitonique. Nous avons abordé toutes ces questions et nous démontrons dans ce travail que les excitons se propagent effectivement dans le plan du puits quantique. Nous arrivons à cette conclusion en combinant des expériences de micro-photoluminescence en régime continu avec des mesures de spectroscopie résolues en temps, et en comparant nos données expérimentales avec divers modèles numériques basés sur les équations dedérive et de diffusion. Dans du matériau de qualité, des puits GaN/(Al,Ga)N obtenus sur substrats GaN, nous avons observé une propagation à temprature ambiante sur plus de 10 µm, et sur plus de 20 µm à 4 K. Nos résultats suggérent que la propagation des excitons sous excitation à onde continue est facilitée par l'écrantage du désordre par les excitons. Néanmoins, la propagation excitonique est encore limitée par la diffusion des excitons sur les défautsiii plutôt que par la diffusion exciton-exciton. Ainsi, l'amélioration de la qualité des interfaces du puits quantique pourrait encore permettre une propagation excitonique sur de plus grandes distances. / This thesis is devoted to experimental study of excitons in polar quantum wells(QWs) based on wide band-gap semiconductors. Due to wurtzite crystal structureof these materials, electron and hole are separated in the QW growth axis, sothat excitons can be considered as indirect excitons (IX), a family of long-living bosonic quasi-particles with dipole moment oriented along the QW growth axis. IX are considered as a model system for studies of collective states in quantum gases of bosons, and are also promising for the development of excitonic circuit devices. Long lifetimes and dipole repulsion allow IXs to travel over large distances before recombination providing the opportunity to study exciton transport by optical imaging. In this thesis we address IX transport in a set of GaN/(Al,Ga)N and ZnO/(Mg,Zn)O QWs. This choice of IX is motivated by high binding energy, and potential stability up to room temperature, but present a number of experimental challenges, including (i) dramatic dependence of the exciton radiative lifetime on the exciton density that makes exciton density measurement very complex, (ii) thermally activated nonradiative recombination that quenches exciton PL at room temperature,(iii) coexistence of photon propagation with exciton propagation along the QW plane, and strong inhomogeneous broadening of the exciton emission due to strong built-in electric field and the presence of both monolayeructuations of the QW thickness and the fluctuations of alloy composition in the barriers. We have addressed all these issues and demonstrated exciton propagation by combining continuous wave µ-photoluminescence and time-resolved spectroscopy measurements, supplemented by modelling of the exciton transport within drift-diffusion formalism. In the best quality GaN/(Al,Ga)N QWs grown on free-standing GaN substrates we achieved room-temperature propagation over ~10 µm and up to 20 µm at 4 K. Our results suggest that propagation of excitons under continuous-wave excitation is assisted by effcient screening of the in-plane disorder. Nevertheless, exciton propagation is still limited by the exciton scattering on defects rather than by exciton-exciton scatteringso that improving interface quality can boost exciton transport further.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Maternal mortality is one of the most important problems related to the reproductive health. This is why the reduction by three quarters of maternal mortality by 2015 has been fixed as target No. 5 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Achieving this goal requires an annual decline of 5.5% of maternal mortality between 1990 and 2015. Unfortunately, the reduction as estimated in 1997 was less than 1% per year. Africa is the continent most affected by this problem. In 2010, the number of maternal mortality in the world was estimated to 287 000 and Africa was hosting more than 52 % (148 000) of the occurrence in the world In Burkina Faso, maternal mortality ratio decreased from 566 in 1991 to 484 in 1998 and 341 in 2010 according to the DHS data while the census estimate was 307 in 2006 and United Nation agencies provided the number of 300 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births in 2010. Statistics provided by the different sources vary considerably. This situation creates confusion among data users. In addition, researches made on the issue remain very insufficient because of the complexity of the issue, lack of data and poor quality of existing data on maternal mortality. This study has been initiated to fill the gap of knowledge about the determinants and estimates of maternal mortality at national and sub-national levels. Results of this research highlighted explanatory factors of maternal mortality at national and regional level with a focus on factors of regional disparities. Findings also provided estimate by adjusting the census 2006 data from missingness and incoherences, improving the census method and testing different other methods. Finally, projection of maternal mortality level is made from 2006 to 2050.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between indirect and direct assessments of language and cognitive skills using the PEAK Relational Training System (PEAK). 29 participants were administered the PEAK-Direct Training Pre-Assessment (PEAK-DT-PA) and the PEAK-Generalization Pre-Assessment (PEAK-G-PA). Of those 29 participants, 28 of their caregivers and 10 therapists completed an indirect assessment the 368 skills listed in the PEAK-DT and PEAK-G curricula. The results of the study suggest that there was a strong correlation between the pre-assessments and the indirect reports from both the parents and the therapists for both modules. Additional correlations and interrater reliability across factors and individual test items were also investigated. Finally, trends in interrater reliability between caregiver report and direct assessments suggest that caregivers reporting for participants with lower overall scores more reliably identified if their child had a deficit with an advanced skill, but could less reliably identify if their child had a more basic skill. The opposite trend was found for caregivers reporting on participants with greater overalls scores. Implications of these findings for clinicians and future research are discussed.