No description available.

Sleep loss is known to trigger an inflammatory response and increase serum corticosterone in both human and murine models. However, very little evidence is available on the potential effects of sleep loss in avian models. This study aims to construct a profile using cytokine gene expression data to determine how birds respond to sleep loss in a controlled environment. I investigated changes in pro-inflammatory (IL-1β and IL-6) and anti-inflammatory (IL-10) cytokine gene expression in the periphery (fat, liver, spleen, and heart) and brain (hypothalamus, hippocampus, and apical hyperpallium) in zebra finches exposed to a novel sleep fragmentation method. Serum corticosterone, body mass, and behavioral profiles also were assessed. Sleep was interrupted periodically for over 12 hours using a sleep fragmentation chamber, which was modified from those typically used in murine studies. This chamber contained a sweeping wire bar that moved the distance of the cage at 2-minute intervals. I predicted that sleep fragmented birds would exhibit elevated pro-inflammatory and reduced anti-inflammatory gene expression relative to those birds that were not sleep fragmented. In addition, I predicted a decrease in body mass and an increase in serum corticosterone levels because of sleep fragmentation. Contrary to my predictions, sleep fragmentation resulted in lower levels of IL-1β in the apical hyperpallium, but lower levels of IL- 10 in the hippocampus. No differences were detected in the adipose tissue of individuals exposed to sleep loss. Sleep fragmentation resulted in an increase in percent body mass lost. Serum corticosterone levels did not differ across groups. These data provide preliminary insight into the inflammatory response that is seen as a result of sleep loss in an avian model. Overall, it appears that as compared to some mammals such as murine rodents, birds are not as susceptible to sleep loss.

Master of Science / Department of Agronomy / Ignacio Ciampitti / Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] has greater drought resilience than many other crops, producing food in the most stressful environments. Sorghum is a reasonable crop choice for farmers working with limited-water supply. The objective of this study was to compare sorghum hybrids differing in yield strategies under varying water supply environments. Yield, biomass, grain harvest index (HI), and yield components (seed number and seed weight) were compared in both rainfed and irrigated situations. Field experiments were established in 2014 and 2015 at Topeka, Scandia, Hutchinson, Garden City, and Tribune, KS. Three sorghum hybrids (Pioneer 85Y40, Pioneer 84G62, and Dekalb 53-67) with different yield potentials at varying water supply were studied. Hybrids 85Y40 and 84G62 tended to have greater yields than hybrid 53-67 when the environment's average yield level was greater than 8.5 Mg haˉ¹. The opposite scenario where hybrid 53-67 had greater yields than the other two hybrids tended to occur for environments yielding less than 8.5 Mg haˉ¹. Both biomass and HI were significantly correlated with grain yield (r values of 0.62 and 0.32 respectively), with biomass having an overall stronger correlation than HI in all environments. In yield group 3 (<8.5 Mg haˉ¹), biomass was much more strongly correlated (r=0.85) to yield than in the yield groups 1 and 2 (>9.5 Mg haˉ¹ and 8.5-9.5 Mg haˉ¹ with r values of 0.35 and 0.52 respectively) suggesting that biomass production is of utmost importance for yield production in drought prone environments. Harvest index on the other hand had a much stronger correlation with yield in group 1 (r=0.62) when compared to group 2 and 3 (r 0.13 and 0.36 respectively) showing the importance of not only biomass, but also of HI to maximize yield in high yielding environments. Hybrids 85Y40 and 84G62 had larger HI values relating to the yield trends in the highest yielding environments. Seed number had a stronger correlation with yield (r=0.77) than seed weight (r=0.37) supporting the importance of increasing seed number to improve yield in sorghum.

I argue in this dissertation that the plays of Aeschylus are best understood as appeals to their predominantly male fifth-century Athenian audience centered around the presentation of dramatic character. I maintain that an examination of the Persians, Seven against Thebes, and Suppliants in these terms reveals that these plays are not primitive, static, or simplistic plays from early in Aeschylus’ career, but rather dramatically complex and mature works. More broadly, I assert that character studies are not hopelessly outdated nor at odds with audience-centered and cultural studies. By combining these approaches, we gain a fuller understanding of how playwrights composed the plays and how spectators responded to them. I also assert that divergent responses to dramas based on individual experiences are not only the rule for spectators of tragedy, but directly influence how playwrights approached their dramatic characters. The Introduction includes theoretical background for spectators’ relationship to dramatic characters culled from film theory and an application of its general principles to the Oresteia. In chapter 1, I examines how the Persians invites spectators to experience a range of potentially contradictory emotional states that include fear of the Persian invaders and sympathy with the inhabitants of the Persian Empire, with the men who fought against them in the war, and perhaps even with Xerxes himself. In Chapter 2, I show how, initially, the Seven against Thebes strongly implies, but does not establish beyond a doubt, that Eteocles is a paragon of Greek manhood and a noble defender of his city with whom Athenian spectators could identify. Questions about Eteocles emerge, however, when the play introduces Polyneices’ accusations of injustice against him, points to increasing similarities between the brothers, and shows how their fates have long since been sealed by their father’s curse and by the will of Apollo. In Chapters 3 and 4, I argue that the portrayal of the Danaids in the Suppliants is intentionally ambiguous. Spectators may have known that the Danaids would kill the Aegyptids, but the play offers vague and contradictory evidence regarding them and their situation to generate suspense in this early play of the trilogy. / text

Since generalized linear model (GLM) with binary response variable is widely used in many disciplines, many efforts have been made to construct a fit model. However, little attention is paid to the link functions, which play a critical role in GLM model. In this article, we compared three link functions and evaluated different model selection methods based on these three link functions. Also, we provided some suggestions on how to choose the proper link function for binary data. / text

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.