Les pratiques culturales modifient l'architecture des couverts de manière à augmenter ou diminuer le développement des épidémies mais les processus mis en jeu sont complexes ; des modèles mécanistes simulant l'interaction entre plante et pathogène devraient aider à les clarifier. Les modèles de Plantes Virtuelles, qui permettent de décrire explicitement la structure tridimensionnelle de la plante, semblent particulièrement prometteurs pour exprimer les effets de l'architecture de la plante sur le développement des épidémies. L'objectif de cette étude est d'examiner la possibilité de simuler l'effet de l'architecture des plantes sur le développement de la maladie en utilisant un modèle Plante Virtuelle. Dans ce travail, nous nous intéressons au pathosystème blé-Septoria tritici, dans lequel l'architecture joue un rôle important. En effet, les spores de Septoria tritici sont propagées par les éclaboussures de pluie depuis les feuilles infectées du bas du couvert vers les nouvelles feuilles saines. Notre travail s'est appuyé sur un modèle pré-existant d'épidémie de la septoriose, Septo3D. L'architecture du blé a été étudiée pour une gamme de densités et de date de semis. Les différences de phyllochrone entre traitements ont été dans une gamme susceptible de modifier le développement de la septoriose. Ces variations ont été représentées par un modèle descriptif qui tient compte du nombre de feuilles final et de la photopériode. Une description détaillée des variables d'architecture à l'échelle des organes et du couvert a fourni une documentation originale et complète sur la plasticité de l'architecture du blé. Ces données ont été utilisées pour paramétrer la description du blé dans Septo3D. Globalement, les traitements étudiés ont conduit à de fortes différences de la densité de végétation au cours du temps. Les dynamiques de développement de la septoriose ont été suivies pour trois traitements de densités contrastées. Les cinétiques de la maladie simulées par le modèle étaient conformes aux mesures expérimentales. Bien que, l'approche nécessite davantage de validation, les résultats confirment que l'approche Plante Virtuelle apporte un nouvel éclairage sur les processus et les caractéristiques des plantes qui impactent les épidémies. En conclusion, nous proposons quelques perspectives en vue de nouvelles applications et améliorations de l'approche. / Agronomic practices modify crop architecture in ways that may facilitate or hamper disease development. The processes involved are complex and mechanistic models simulating plant-pathogen interaction should help clarifying them. Virtual Plants, i.e. models in which the three-dimensional structure of the plant is explicitly described, appear specially promising to express the effects of the plant architecture on the epidemic development. The objective of this study is to examine the ability to simulate the effect of plant architecture on disease development using a Virtual Plant model.The work focuses on the pathosystem wheat-Septoria tritici, in which architecture plays an important role because spores of Septoria are propagated from infected leaves to upper healthy leaves by rain splash. We build on a pre-existing model of Septoria epidemics, Septo3D. Wheat architecture was examined for a range of sowing date and density treatments. Differences of phyllochron between treatments were in a range sufficient to likely modify epidemic development; they were well represented by a descriptive model depending on photoperiod and final leaf number. A detailed description of architectural variables at the organ and canopy scale provided an original and comprehensive documentation of the plastic response of wheat, which was used for parameterising the wheat description in Septo3D. Overall, the investigated treatments resulted in strong differences in the time course of vegetation density. Septoria dynamics were monitored in a subset of three treatments of contrasted densities. Simulated disease kinetics were consistent with field measurements. Although, the approach needs further validation, results support that virtual plant modelling provides new insights into the processes and plant traits that impact epidemics. We conclude with prospects for further improvements and applications.

The coherent semantics of the sowing imagery (1Cor 15,36–44) suggest that heavenly bodies (v. 40–41) emerge from a process of body transformation, analogous to plants and animate beings (v. 37–39). The idea that the deceased are transformed into stars and thereby obtain a particular form of existence is widely attested in the mythography and in epitaphs of antiquity. In contrast to pagan conceptions about the dead permanently returning into celestial spheres, the heavenly bodies according to Paul represent a postmortem, albeit a pre-resurrection, stage in the development of human bodies. Accordingly, the heavenly body represents an intermediary ontological mode between the animated body of earthly creatures and the spiritual body of resurrection.

The Faith Movement is a religious mosaic since it is a multi-layered phenomenon which is coloured by several themes. These themes represent several areas of emphasis like: Blessing and Blessings, Power to declare, Prophetic anointing, connecting with the anointing, dominion, success and increase, sowing the seeds, as well as other ideas which are still evolving. The Word of Faith teachers have a very unique way of reading the Bible. They usually approach the text without consideration of its historical and cultural context. When they approach the biblical text they usually assign to it an independent existence cut off from its natural context. This in turn results in the reinterpretation of all the major doctrines of the Christian faith. Both God and human beings belong to the same class of “divine beings.” God and human beings it is believed operate under the rule of faith. It is argued that whatever God created, God did so by speaking words of faith (see Genesis 1:1-3). It is therefore argued that human beings similarly can create their own reality and destiny by speaking words of faith.Christology and Pneumatology of the Faith Movement assume a rather narrow outlook. It is believed that Jesus Christ died so that in addition to the forgiveness of sins He provided for all spiritual and material needs of the people. Therefore, no Christian should be poor or sick. The Holy Spirit on the other hand, is the anointing that enables believers to make it in life. It must be pointed out that even though the Word of Faith ideas were exported to Africa mainly from the United States of America it has found a home in Africa. The concepts of blessings and curses have a corollary in African Religious Traditional thought. The role that Word of Faith preachers play is similar to the roles played by several religious experts in African Religious Thought. Ultimately, the Faith Movement is not based on sound theological and philosophical ground. It is based on unique reading of the Bible which is more esoteric than theological. More Gnostic than Christian. / Philosophy & Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

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The Faith Movement is a religious mosaic since it is a multi-layered phenomenon which is coloured by several themes. These themes represent several areas of emphasis like: Blessing and Blessings, Power to declare, Prophetic anointing, connecting with the anointing, dominion, success and increase, sowing the seeds, as well as other ideas which are still evolving. The Word of Faith teachers have a very unique way of reading the Bible. They usually approach the text without consideration of its historical and cultural context. When they approach the biblical text they usually assign to it an independent existence cut off from its natural context. This in turn results in the reinterpretation of all the major doctrines of the Christian faith. Both God and human beings belong to the same class of “divine beings.” God and human beings it is believed operate under the rule of faith. It is argued that whatever God created, God did so by speaking words of faith (see Genesis 1:1-3). It is therefore argued that human beings similarly can create their own reality and destiny by speaking words of faith.Christology and Pneumatology of the Faith Movement assume a rather narrow outlook. It is believed that Jesus Christ died so that in addition to the forgiveness of sins He provided for all spiritual and material needs of the people. Therefore, no Christian should be poor or sick. The Holy Spirit on the other hand, is the anointing that enables believers to make it in life. It must be pointed out that even though the Word of Faith ideas were exported to Africa mainly from the United States of America it has found a home in Africa. The concepts of blessings and curses have a corollary in African Religious Traditional thought. The role that Word of Faith preachers play is similar to the roles played by several religious experts in African Religious Thought. Ultimately, the Faith Movement is not based on sound theological and philosophical ground. It is based on unique reading of the Bible which is more esoteric than theological. More Gnostic than Christian. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

Although herbivory and other types of plant damage typically are viewed as detrimental to plant survival and performance, vigorous regrowth, greater seed set, and fitness benefits may be possible when damage to the apical meristem, or actively growing stem terminal, is involved. Such damage releases apical dominance, or the hormonal suppression of lateral buds, activates dormant lateral buds, and enables lateral shoots to grow. Since in plants with terminal flowers, each stem may bear a flower, removal of the apical meristem may result in stem bifurcation and ultimately increase the number of flowers and seeds, thereby increasing potential fitness. In the current study, possible overcompensation in response to apical meristem damage caused by simulated herbivory (clipping) and the gall midge Asphondylia borrichiae Rossi and Strong (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) (galling) was investigated in the native coastal halophyte, sea oxeye daisy Borrichia frutescens (L.) DC. (Asteraceae), in relation to nutrient supplementation. Results suggest a strong correlation between stem count and gall count at the study site; moreover, apical dominance was relatively weak early in the growing season and stronger in short plants that were shaded by taller neighbors later in the season. Results also indicate that overcompensation or even full compensation is an unlikely response to apical meristem damage in B. frutescens. Stem count was similar across all stem treatments, but increased significantly with nutrient supplementation, which all supports weak apical dominance in sea oxeye daisy. Nearly all measures of fitness also were either slightly or significantly lower when clipped and galled compared to plants with stems intact, while seed count responded positively to nutrient supplementation.

Identifying mechanisms that determine who lives and dies is the first step in developing successful restoration techniques for rare species and endangered habitats. We studied interactions that affect establishment of native plant forbs of conservation concern at the seedling stage to support the theoretical basis for restoration activities in Pacific Northwest prairies. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that seedling establishment is controlled by 1) competition with or 2) facilitation by existing vegetation and that the interaction is mediated in part by environmental stress. We direct-seeded or planted vegetative plugs of Lupinus oreganus, Castilleja levisecta, Erigeron decumbens, Iris tenax and Sidalcea malviflora ssp. virgata into 20 plots with a range of community compositions in high-stress upland prairies at each of three sites. We counted seedlings and estimated cover of plant functional groups as well as litter, bare soil and disturbance then used linear regression to test for effects of these factors on seedling establishment. We found evidence of indirect facilitation of grass on seedling establishment in the first year: higher accumulations of leaf litter increased seedling numbers at two sites. In the second year, there was evidence of facilitation by live vegetation and litter on seedlings at one site, but no net effect of either competition or facilitation at the other two sites. Overall, we found more evidence for positive interactions than we did for competition. In particular, litter appeared to have a positive effect on seedling establishment of L. oreganus and S. malviflora ssp. virgata. This is contrary to the common perception that litter inhibits plant establishment but supports the theory that facilitation is more common in high stress sites; practitioners should consider seeding into leaf litter at some sites. To support a robust approach to conservation and reintroduction of species with dormant seed, we characterized dormancy types and developed germination protocols for S. malviflora ssp. virgata and I. tenax. S. malviflora ssp. virgata has physical dormancy and may have physiological dormancy. Scarification followed by four weeks of cold moist stratification was effective in initiating germination. I. tenax has morphophysiological dormancy which is overcome by four weeks of warm moist stratification followed by 6-12 weeks of cold stratification. We also conducted a meta-analysis of experiments that tested pre-sowing seed scarification of L. oreganus and conclude that breaking physical dormancy prior to direct seeding does not support higher establishment relative to unscarified seeds in this species. / Graduation date: 2012