P. elliottii Engelm. var. elliottii is an important exotic plantation species in Zimbabwe, where it is grown for saw-timber and resin production. Three progeny tests, originating from factorial matings between parents selected in plantations, were assessed at five, eight and 15 years. The objectives of the study were to characterise quantitative genetic variation in the population through the estimation of genetic parameters, and to use these parameters in combined indices to select for specified breeding objectives for P. elliottii in Zimbabwe. All traits of interest were under a reasonable degree of additive genetic control, and the magnitudes of nonadditive genetic variances were almost invariably much less than those of additive genetic variances. Narrow-sense heritabilities for growth traits, wood density and resin yield were moderate to high, ranging from 0.3 - 0.42; those for stem straightness and branching traits were lower, ranging between 0.10 and 0.25. Genetic correlations at each of the assessment ages were more variable; of most consequence for this study were the slight negative correlations between wood density and both stem diameter and volume, and the slight positive correlation between density and height. Age-age correlations for growth traits were high, indicating potential for early selection. Age-age correlations for other traits ranged from moderately negative to highly positive. Although statistically significant for many traits, genotype-environment interaction was judged by a number of criteria to be of little practical importance. No one site was the most efficient for selection across the range of traits for establishment at other sites; rather, a set of pooled parameters was estimated for application on sites typical of those on which commercial plantations of P. elliottii are established. Selection indices were constructed for four breeding objectives, representing differing assumptions about the relative importance of saw-timber and resin production. Indices for both direct and indirect selection were compared in terms of genetic gain, efficiency and accuracy, which were influenced by the differential weighting of traits in the breeding objective. The highest gains, efficiency and accuracies were for the breeding objective of saw-timber only; increasing the emphasis on resin production reduced each of these parameters, and also had a more adverse impact on wood density. For a breeding objective corresponding to or emphasizing saw-timber production, selection based on diameter or height at five years was best; selection on the latter has the advantage of maintaining wood density at around its present level. Should resin production also be important, resin yield or a correlated trait must be included in the index. Efficiencies of indirect selection were highest at five years, regardless of the breeding objective or selection criteria considered. The lack of economic information was a considerable hinderance in conducting these analyses. The construction of more complete indices, incorporating information from all siblings represented in the factorial mating design, was also investigated for the breeding objective of saw-timber production. These indices were compared in terms of gain and accuracy, and their effect on population structure in the subsequent generation. Selection based on the most complete index resulted in the greatest gain and accuracy, but also in the greatest reduction in additive genetic variance in the next generation. These results highlight the dilemma facing breeders charged both with achieving gains in the short term and maintaining diversity over the longer term. Breeding strategies which facilitate differential intensities of selection and breeding, and the maintenance of a large effective population size, are seen as the best means to resolve these conflicting demands; some implications for the breeding population of P. elliottii in Zimbabwe are discussed.

The subject of inquiry for my thesis is slash fiction, a subset of fanfiction which creates queer identity, romance, relationships, sex, or desire where it was not ostensibly present in the proto-text. I divide my thinking into a non-linear model of five nodes in order to open up multiple in-roads towards examining the queer work of slash without crystalizing into a comprehensive theory that would efface its nuance and particularities. These nodes figure under notions of failure, embodiment, archives, temporality, and hybrid body erotics. The current, motion, and energy running through all of these nodes is what I call critical queer imagination. Critical queer imagination is not an overarching theory that explains slash (or queer creative works in general), but rather a gesture towards the impulse behind queer activism as well as a signal towards queer futurity. It is ultimately this queer critical imagination that allows me to argue for slash fiction as part of a larger queer project that is necessarily engaged with queer potential and political imagination. / text

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Thesis (MS)--University of Montana, 2009. / Title from author supplied metadata. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1991. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-89). Also available online.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-12T18:02:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 arquivo3845_1.pdf: 626461 bytes, checksum: f4fcd2f2252f2f1a26629afb71adf096 (MD5) license.txt: 1748 bytes, checksum: 8a4605be74aa9ea9d79846c1fba20a33 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / As distribuições de probabilidade geralmente utilizadas para modelagem de dados quando há simetria no comportamento dos erros do modelo são as pertencentes a família elíptica, sendo a distribuição normal a mais utilizada na literatura dentre todas as distribuições elípticas. Neste trabalho abordaremos uma outra classe de distribuiçoes que apresenta a propriedade de simetria proposta recentemente por Gómez, Quintana e Torres (2007), denominada de distribuição slash-elíptica. A distribuição slashel elíptica apresenta como principal característica uma maior flexibilidade quanto ao grau da curtose frente a distribuição elíptica, além de conter a família elíptica como um caso limite. Propomos uma metodologia de estimação, testes de hipóteses, análise de resíduos e diagnóstico para a classe de modelos lineares com erros slash-elípticos com parâmetro conhecido. Apresentamos duas aplicac¸ oes para exemplificar a metodologia proposta. O primeiro conjunto de dados analisados refere-se aos dados de salinidade do rio Pamlico Sound na Carolina do Norte - EUA apresentado por Rupppert e Carroll (1980). O segundo conjunto de dados analisados refere-se a um experimento de 21 dias de observac¸ oes de um planta sujeita a oxidac¸ ao de am onia a ´acido n´ıtrico. Para os dois conjuntos de dados, consideramos os modelos el´ıpticos normal e t-Student, e os modelos slash-normal e slash-t-Student, com o objetivo de realizar uma comparac¸ ao emp´ırica entre os mesmos.

Laboratory and greenhouse experiments were carried out with controlled burning and with seedling growth correlated to soil chemical changes. The surface of soil blocks from three sites of the Coastal Western Hemlock Zone were burned at two intensities and planted separately with seeds of Douglas-fir, western hemlock, and western redcedar. Growth data were recorded periodically and dry weights of the seedling crops were obtained to determine treatment differences. The burning procedure showed the insulating and cooling effects of the vaporizing soil moisture. The burning slightly increased germination of Douglas-fir and western hemlock, generally promoted fungal population, and initiated different chemical changes in the soil on each site. Dry matter production, for all species combined, varied with treatment for each site in the following decreasing order: Swordfern site - severely burned, moderately burned, unburned control; Moss site - unburned control, moderately burned, severely burned; Salal site - moderately burned, unburned control, severely burned. Comparisons of dry matter production on control blocks with that in nature indicated that the removal of blocks from the natural environment had significantly changed the original conditions. In consequence, new artificial sites were created. Consistent evidence of the rhizosphere effect was produced on soil pH by seedlings, especially by Douglas-fir. Dormancy was successfully broken in all plants and there was evidence of different responses in photo-periodism with each species. The highest dry matter production was directly related to increased soil pH, to increased partial cation saturation, and to increased concentration of available phosphorus but to a decreased cation exchange capacity. Cation exchange capacity was inversely related to the availability of nutrients. Decrease of cation exchange capacity proved to be a beneficial effect of fire. In this experiment, where the ash was not supplied as usual in a slash burn, the increased base saturation resulted from the decreased cation exchange capacity. As compared with field samples in August 1959, total nitrogen was lower in all blocks in June 1960. Nitrogen increased in the following year in all variants of the Swordfern site and somewhat in unburned control blocks of the Moss and Salal sites. The Swordfern site benefited from burning by accelerated mineralization, which substituted for the deprived seepage. Fire caused the least damage to this habitat. The Moss site suffered heavily by burning, which reduced humus, the main source of nutrition. The unburned blocks were benefited by fast decomposition of humus in the greenhouse. The Salal site's thick raw humus benefited from moderate burn, which removed part of the humus and acted as a fertilizer on the remainder. Severe burning was most harmful on this site by the destruction of the large part of humus. Rich soils, usually with seepage water, are less damaged by fire than poor soils with strong drainage. It is mainly because in rich soils organic matter is at least partly incorporated into the mineral horizon and acts readily after fire especially for nitrogen supply. / Science, Faculty of / Botany, Department of / Graduate