A presença de cultivares indesejáveis em lotes de linhagens de milho não é tolerada, pois compromete a eficiência da multiplicação subsequente para a produção comercial de sementes. A detecção das sementes contaminantes é realizada através de testes para determinação da pureza varietal e/ou genética, os quais, geralmente, são baseados em marcadores morfológicos e bioquímicos. Devido à importância dessa determinação, métodos alternativos eficientes vêm sendo avaliados e, entre esses merecem destaque os baseados em polimorfismo de DNA, visando a obtenção de informações mais consistentes. Nesse sentido, esta pesquisa teve como objetivo principal a comparação da eficiência de marcadores morfológicos e microssatélites para avaliação de pureza varietal de linhagens de milho e a determinação do grau de sensibilidade da técnica de microssatélites para detectar a ocorrência de genótipos contaminantes em lotes de sementes. Utilizaram-se quatro linhagens (L1, L2, L3 e L4) fornecidas pela Dow AgroSciences Ltda., misturadas duas a duas, para a obtenção de níveis de contaminação de 0, 1, 2, 5, 10 e 100%. L1 e L3 foram consideradas linhagens puras, enquanto L2 e L4 foram tratadas como genótipos contaminantes. A avaliação mediante o uso de marcadores morfológicos foi realizada utilizando-se descritores para sementes, plântulas e plantas em diferentes estádios de desenvolvimento. Na técnica de microssatélites utilizaram-se iniciadores específicos para amplificar DNA isolado a partir de amostras constituídas por 100 sementes ou 100 pares de folhas de plântulas. As reações de amplificação foram conduzidas via reação da polimerase em cadeia e o programa de amplificação utilizado foi específico para microssatélites. Para a resolução dos fragmentos utilizaram-se os géis de agarose (3,5%) e poliacrilamida (6%). Com a finalidade de verificar a sensibilidade dos microssatélites em detectar a ocorrência de contaminantes, foram realizadas misturas sucessivas do DNA da linhagem denominada contaminante em DNA da linhagem pura, simulando níveis de contaminação de 0%, 0,01%, 0,013%, 0,02%, 0,04%, 0,1%, 0,2%, 1%, 2%, 5%, 10% e 100%. Foi observado que as características morfológicas de sementes, plântulas ou mesmo plantas, não ofereceram segurança suficiente para a detecção de contaminação em amostras de linhagens de milho. Por outro lado, a técnica de microssatélites apresentou maior eficiência e precisão, permitindo a detecção de níveis de contaminação de até 1%, como o uso de amostras constituídas por sementes e também folhas de plântulas. No experimento simulando misturas com DNA de diferentes genótipos (L1 - L2 e L3 - L4), a técnica de microssatélites foi eficiente em detectar de maneira consistente concentrações de 0,1% da amostra contaminante. Assim, a determinação da pureza varietal em lotes de sementes de linhagens de milho é mais eficiente pela utilização de marcadores microssatélites em comparação aos marcadores morfológicos. / Maize inbred lines seed production has been conducted to avoid the presence of varietal contamination since it compromises the subsequent multiplication phases within the commercial seed program. Contaminant seeds are detected through varietal and/or genetic purity determination tests which are usually based on morphological and biochemical markers, depending on the desired effectiveness. Thus, more efficient alternative approaches have been tested, with special emphasis on those based on DNA polymorphism. In that context, the main objective of this research was to compare the efficiency of morphological and microsatellite markers to evaluate varietal purity of maize inbred lines and to determine the sensitiveness of the microsatellite technique to detect the occurrence of contaminant genotypes in seed lots. There were used four inbred lines (L1, L2, L3 and L4) supplied by Dow AgroSciences Ltd., mixed to attain contamination levels of 0, 1, 2, 5, 10 and 100%. L1 and L3 were considered pure strains while L2 and L4 were treated as contaminant genotypes. For the morphological marker evaluation seed, seedling and plant descriptors at different development stages were used. Specific maize primers were used in the microsatellite technique and the DNA was isolated from samples of 100 seeds or 100 pairs of seedling leaves. The DNA amplification reactions were conducted through polymerase chain reaction, with amplification program especially designed for microsatellites, and for fragments resolution, 3.5% agarose and 6% polyacrilamyde gels were used. Successive mixtures among DNA of contaminant line and pure line (0%, 0.01%, 0.013%, 0.02%, 0.04%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 1%, 2%, 5%, 10%, and 100%) were performed to simulate contamination levels with the objective of verify the microssatellite sensitiveness in detecting the occurrence of contaminants. Morphological characteristics of the seeds, seedlings or plants were less reliable to detect contamination in maize inbred lines than the microsatellite technique; this provides more efficient and accurate evaluation of varietal purity of seed lots. Levels with 1% of contamination were detected by the use of seed and seedling leaf samples. The experiment with mixtures of DNA (L1 - L2 and L3 - L4) using microsatellite technique allowed the consistent detection of 0.1% contaminant DNA concentration. Thus, the determination of varietal purity in maize seed lots is more efficient by using microsatellite markers than morphological markers.

Who was Joan of Arc? That was the first question in my mind before I began my journey of studying this remarkable young woman. I had no idea how special she was. I thought she was just another historical figure that gets lost in history books. All I really knew about her was that she was burned at the stake. What I didn't know was that she led a country's army into battle at the age of seventeen.The adaptation of Mark Twain's novel, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc into a full length play involves in-depth research into French and English society, religion, war strategy, The Hundred Years War and many other aspects that affected the young Jehanne d'Arc. Research also included in-depth study of the life of Mark Twain. After months of research, the playwriting process began. The process ending with new knowledge in playwriting, dramatic structure and a work that reflects how Joan of Arc can inspire an individual as a true heroine. A staged reading of the play, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, was presented on Monday, December 3rd, 2012 at the Next Door in Johnson City, Tennessee.

The Buckling Restrained Braced Frame (BRBF) is used in steel structures as a lateral load resisting system for seismic events. In typical design procedure the impact of gravity loads acting on BRBFs is neglected and the beams and columns of the structure are designed to resist all gravity loads. In actuality BRBFs are supporting portions of gravity loads acting on the structure which may be changing the overall performance of BRBFs. The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of large gravity loads on BRBF performance. This is done using finite element analysis to test two different structures supporting large gravity loads. The first structure is a seven story structure consisting of different BRBF configurations; the second structure is a three story structure with all BRBFs in an eccentrically braced configuration. Each structure was modeled with applied ground motion simulations with and without gravity loads, and with gravity loads but no applied ground motion simulations. Results indicate that gravity loads have no significant impact on the overall performance of BRBFs for either structure.

As the United States began to expand imperially beyond the continent, conflicts grew over control of what terms such as “America” and “American” represented—and how to depict them. The so-called “Golden Age of American Imperialism” spawned excited, jingoistic texts that asserted an American identity predicated on exceptionalism and beneficence. Meanwhile, protests arose from, and in, the margins of American literature. Though scholars have rigorously examined the fingerprints left by empire in U.S. culture and literature, we now need to dust for its protestors: the elements and aesthetics of the forces resisting it require further examination. “War in the Margins: Illustrating Anti-Imperialism in American Culture” demonstrates the interplay of grapheme, graphics, and propaganda integral to the anti-imperialist movement in American literature and culture. It argues that hybrid media was essential to anti-imperialist propaganda in the United States at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century. Beginning with Mark Twain's adventure novels and ending with W. E. B. Du Bois's work with the Crisis, “War in the Margins” analyzes intermedia dynamics to highlight how currents of empire play out between aesthetics and imperial politics across and through the page. Each chapter considers intergroup dynamics central to the annexation debates, relying particularly on visual theory, neoformalism, and humor studies, but also attending to book history, especially in the development of imaging technologies. I open by discussing the fluctuating space of home created by narratives in Mark Twain and Daniel Carter Beard's Tom Sawyer Abroad. The second chapter addresses the impact of humor and empathy on intergroup dynamics in Ernest Howard Crosby and Daniel Carter Beard's Captain Jinks, Hero. I move beyond the domestic in my third and fourth chapters. The third examines the use of photography and hybrid media in the battle between Mark Twain and King Leopold II, a conflict exemplified in King Leopold's Soliloquy and its response, An Answer to Mark Twain. The final chapter returns to the United States through the proto-modernist periodical work of Pauline Hopkins and W. E. B. Du Bois. I emphasize the ways textual aesthetics articulate national and international dynamics central to conceptions of what it means to be an American, concentrating on the ways aesthetic concerns amplify currents and voices that would ordinarily be marginalized. I contend that a close attention to multimodal aesthetics significantly contributes to discourses surrounding narratives of national and transnational communities and provides a deepened understanding of the struggles surrounding constructions of American citizenry.

Mark obviously says that all of the disciples of Jesus desert him and flee (Mark 14:50). Mark, however, introduces a young man as a new character who was following Jesus like other disciples and fled naked before Jesus’s suffering. This young man is the most enigmatic character in Mark. In particular, the young man never appears in other Gospels. For this reason, the young man’s identity and his conduct has been a topic of longstanding dispute among scholars. Some regard him as historical figures, one of Jesus’ own disciples like John the son of Zebedee, James the Lord’s brother, or John Mark. They consider him as witness of Jesus. Others take the young man to be symbolic figures like an angel, Jesus himself, Christian initiate, and a representative of disciples’ reality. In this work, I suggest that the young man is Mark’ literary creation by imitating Homeric model of Elpenor. Mark relies on a specific genetic model, not on historical reports of witness or symbolic interpretation. Mark’s literary intention by using Homer’s Elpenor is to substitute his own value for Homer’s. The idea of the afterlife in Homeric epics is replaced to Christianized the concept of the afterlife that is resurrection. In addition, the identity of the young man is Mark’s creation as a stand-in to substitute for Jesus and exculpate him from responsibility for not warning his disciples before the Jewish Temple destruction. According to Mark’s Gospel, Jesus himself told his disciples in advance. Moreover, the young man in Jesus’s empty tomb provides the three women with the message of Jesus to escape from the tragic incident. Therefore, nobody would blame Jesus for the suffering of the Jerusalem Church in Jewish war. The women’s failure to transmit the message doomed Jesus’ followers to the carnage of the war. The identity of the young man in Mark’s Gospel can be detected by considering Mark’s literary model and his mimetic achievement. As a creative and skillful author, Mark imitates well-known model in Greco-Roman literary world. Mark, however, does not just copy of the model; Mark emulates and transforms it to replace the concept of the afterlife. In addition, Mark’s mimetic achievement in the episode of the young man is to convey the supremacy of Jesus by exculpating him from responsibility not saving his followers from the catastrophe. Mark’s Gospel is the response for the issue. In sum, Mark’s dependence on Homer explains the most enigmatic character and scene in Mark.

I consider statistical modelling of data gathered by photographic identification in mark-recapture studies and propose a new method that incorporates the inherent uncertainty of photographic identification in the estimation of abundance, survival and recruitment. A hierarchical model is proposed which accepts scores assigned to pairs of photographs by pattern recognition algorithms as data and allows for uncertainty in matching photographs based on these scores. The new models incorporate latent capture histories that are treated as unknown random variables informed by the data, contrasting past models having the capture histories being fixed. The methods properly account for uncertainty in the matching process and avoid the need for researchers to confirm matches visually, which may be a time consuming and error prone process. Through simulation and application to data obtained from a photographic identification study of whale sharks I show that the proposed method produces estimates that are similar to when the true matching nature of the photographic pairs is known. I then extend the method to incorporate auxiliary information to predetermine matches and non-matches between pairs of photographs in order to reduce computation time when fitting the model. Additionally, methods previously applied to record linkage problems in survey statistics are borrowed to predetermine matches and non-matches based on scores that are deemed extreme. I fit the new models in the Bayesian paradigm via Markov Chain Monte Carlo and custom code that is available by request.

Pathogenic fungi are increasingly associated with epidemics in wildlife populations and represent a significant threat to global biodiversity. Snake fungal disease is an emerging disease caused by the fungus, Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, and appears to be widespread in the eastern United States. Yet an evaluation of field diagnostics, and an understanding of the population-level consequences of the disease, are lacking. First, I evaluated the use of clinical signs to predict the presence of O. ophiodiicola across season and snake habitat affiliation (aquatic or terrestrial) and I compared two sampling methods to see if collection method impacts PCR result. Overall, snakes with clinical signs had a higher probability of testing positive regardless of season or habitat association. However, terrestrial snakes had a lower overall probability of testing positive for O. ophiodiicola compared to aquatic snakes. I found no significant difference between sampling methods. Second, I used Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) telemetry, and multistate capture-mark-recapture modelling to determine if SFD affects the short-term survival, movement, and behavior of wild snakes. I found no difference in short-term survival for snakes with SFD. Snakes with SFD spend more time surface-active and have lower permanent emigration and temporary immigration rates than snakes without SFD.

Carcharias taurus is listed as Critically Endangered along the east coast of Australia and there is concern about their status globally. The use of traditional tag–recapture methods to monitor the east coast C. taurus population have been discontinued due to tag–biofouling and injuries that relate to tag attachment. In the current study, captive and wild C. taurus were used to assess whether spots present on their flanks were suitable natural tags for individual shark recognition. Photographic images of seven captive sharks taken at monthly intervals for 13 months and at three years after the start of the study indicated that their spot number, position and relative size did not change over this period. Similarly, eighty–nine wild sharks photographically re–identified at least 23 months after their initial identification (and in one case after 14 years) confirmed long–term spot–pattern retention. Photographic recaptures of individual C. taurus provided information about their temporal and spatial distribution and movement patterns along the Australian east coast in relation to maturity, sex and reproductive condition. A total of 930 sharks were photo–identified between 2004 and 2008 at 23 aggregation sites between Wolf Rock and Montague Island. Of these, 479 were females (271 mature, 208 immature) and 452 were males (288 mature, 60 sub–adults, 104 juveniles). The distribution of pregnant C. taurus was seasonally and temporally distinct from all other sharks. Visibly pregnant C. taurus were recorded at Wolf Rock (the most northern site) from February until October, although many sharks left during July. Pregnant C. taurus were also observed at North Moreton Island, Flat Rock and Fish Rock between June and November. Resting (mature, non–gravid) females and mature males were mostly observed at mid–southern sites from December to June, with northern counts increasing from June to November. The majority of immature sharks were recorded at mid–southern sites. Of 930 sharks identified between 2004 and 2008, 149 were identified at more than one site. On average, mature females moved 338 km (SD ± 465), mature males 340 km (SD ± 299), immature females 147 km (SD ± 98), sub–adult males 185 km (SD ± 216), and juvenile males 271 km (SD ± 237). The maximum rate of movement per day was 18.5 km for a mature female shark, 20.7 km for a mature male, 4.3 km for an immature female, 86 km for a sub–adult male and 4 km for a juvenile male. Mature males and mature non–pregnant females tended to move north from mid–winter and mate in late spring/early summer in warmer waters. From about mid–winter, pregnant females began to move from the warmer waters of their gestation areas to cooler southern waters to pup (probably from late spring to mid–summer). The movement patterns of immature sharks varied temporally, and were more limited spatially. Underwater censuses, photo–identification and acoustic tracking of individual C. taurus were used to investigate their reproductive periodicity, localised movements and behavioural segregation at Wolf Rock – the most northerly aggregation site on the east Australian seaboard. A biennial reproductive cycle was indicated for 18 of 28 females for which re–identifications spanned at least two mating and/or pregnancy events. Nine of the 28 sharks appeared to exhibit a triennial reproductive cycle. Male C. taurus were observed between July and January, but were absent between February and April. Scuba divers reported seeing some mating scars on individuals from mid–October, however fresh mating scars were predominately observed on photographs of individual C. taurus taken in November and December. Four acoustically–tagged mature female sharks remained within 500 m of the Wolf Rock aggregation site within a marine sanctuary zone for 78 – 90 % of the 11–15 day study period. A minimum population estimate of 930 individuals is provided from all sharks identified between 2004 and 2008. In addition, a Jolly–Seber (open model design) mark–recapture analysis on data obtained during four scheduled photo–identification surveys (conducted between July 2006 and February 2008 at 25 aggregation sites along the east coast of Australia) was used to estimate the size of this population. A maximum of 272 sharks (143 females and 129 males) were identified during any scheduled survey period. Model averaging across the highest rated JS models (Popan data formulation) resulted in an estimate of 756 males (95% CI = 590 – 922) and 1185 females (95% CI = 901 – 1469). The mark–recapture abundance estimate is considered preliminary and requires further model development to incorporate the heterogeneity in distribution and migration patterns within the C. taurus population. The occurrence of retained fishing gear and gear–related jaw injuries were quantified from the four scheduled photo–identification surveys along the east coast of Australia. A total of 673 sharks were identified with 119 occurrences of retained fishing gear or jaw injury recorded from 113 individual sharks. For sharks that were known by spot–patterns on both flanks, 29 % of females and 52 % of males were seen with retained fishing gear or a gear–related jaw injury. The largest numbers of identified sharks (222) during the surveys were seen at Fish Rock (off the New South Wales coast): 48 % of all sharks identified with retained fishing gear were first identified at this site. Fish Rock is a designated critical habitat for C. taurus, but most forms of line fishing, except fishing while anchored or moored with bait and/or wire trace line are permitted. Results from the surveys clearly demonstrated that C. taurus is susceptible to a large variety of fishing gear and fishing methods. Current protection measures for C. taurus appear insufficient at this site, particularly as large aggregations that include immature and mature sharks occur consistently throughout the year.

No description available.

<p>Förorenade områden kan utgöra en stor risk för den omgivande miljön. Föroreningar som tungmetaller kan påverka det mikrobiologiska livet samt genom urlakning föras ut i grundvatten och vidare förorena omgivande miljö och dricksvatten. Tungmetaller tas även upp i organismer och sprids vidare i näringskedjor och kan också nå människan genom föda som växer eller odlas på förorenad mark. Föroreningar i mark härstammar oftast från gammal industriell produktion, så även i och omkring samhället Gusum i Östergötland. Här har verksamhet med smältverk bedrivits sedan 60-talet och ända fram till början av 80-talet var rökgaserna från verket orenade från metaller och har kraftigt förorenat och skadat närområdet kring bruket. </p><p>Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka hur allvarligt förorenat området kring bruket är av metallerna koppar och zink, samt om metallerna riskerar att spridas ned i markprofilen och om denna risk förefaller öka ju högre halter marken har utsatts för. Information om området har samlats in och provtagningar i marken har genomförts på två olika avstånd från bruket. Provtagningarna omfattade totalt 8 st provgropar, 4 st på vardera provtagningsplats. Proverna har tagits från 4 olika djup i varje enskild grop. </p><p>Resultaten av studien visar att tillståndet i marken är allvarligt till mycket allvarligt enligt Naturvårdsverkets bedömningsgrunder för förorenad mark. Vidare visar mätningarna att det mesta av metallföroreningarna är bundet i markens organiska lager. Metallkoncentrationen i markens övre skikt verkar ha liten betydelse i detta fall för spridningen nedåt i markprofilen och spridningen sker mycket långsamt.</p>