This study investigates the digital lifeworlds of rural and urban 13- to 18-year old young people in an African, specifically Nigerian, context. Children and young people’s digital lifeworlds and practices with technology in the global North is well researched and documented. By contrast, research focusing on their counterparts, particularly pre-teens’ and teenagers’ digital practices and participation in Africa is still largely limited and exploratory; and the field underdeveloped. This is more so despite the important role played by digital communication technologies in children and young people’s everyday life. Privileging the use of a mixed methods approach, this study conducted 16 focus group discussions with 175 participants and a survey of 380 respondents in public and private schools sampled across two of Nigeria’s major geopolitical zones. Supported by the child-centred approach and the domestication framework by Silverstone, Hirsch and Morley (1992), the study provides a multi-layered portrait of the ways in which Nigerian teens access, understand, work and play with and negotiate the digital technologies that are available to them. The study also broadly pays attention to how young people constitute their digital lives and the role played by contextual dynamics and community networks such as family, school and others. It was found that young people in Nigeria have a considerable access to and are predominantly using mobile phones and the Internet (via the ‘mobile internet’). However, this did not preclude the divides and marginalities between children from dissimilar social backgrounds. Teens’ significant outcomes with technology mostly centre around the need for communication and interaction with friends first, and then family. They also primarily use technology to cultivate and maintain their peer culture, for self-care, dealing with mental wellbeing, and as a critical resource for education and information-seeking. Nigerian children’s digital practices are substantially shaped and at the same time undermined by various mediators or digital gatekeepers. These include parents, teachers, guardians and older adults who are presented mostly as prohibitors and moral panic mongers. Issues such as the absence of digital literacy and skill on the part of the children, their parents and teachers also limit the teens’ agency and digital opportunities and result in unchecked risks such as access to pornography, meeting online with strangers/online grooming, distractions, identity issues/negative role modelling. Moreover, the opportunities and benefits of technology in children’s lives remain precarious, stratified and complex. This study attempts to place children’s digital lifeworlds in its wider socio-spatial context and experience, contributing an important dimension to children’s digital practices, especially as there exists a resonant paucity of and apathy towards research and scholarship in children and media studies in Africa. Techno-shaming children into silence, fear, scepticism, guilt or moral panic is a common, but flawed strategy. Instead, it is suggested that government, schools and families should reconsider the precarious subjective-subordinate and marginalised position of young people and allow them the agency to contribute to decisions relating to their digital lives. Adult decision makers must focus on expanding Nigerian teens’ digital opportunities and rights. There is equally the need to develop resources that might help empower parents, families and adults by providing knowledge of the opportunities and risks of the digital age.

This thesis presents a collection of experimental designs that approach the problem of growing electricity consumption in homes. From the perspective of design, the intention has been to critically explore the design space of energy awareness artefacts to reinstate awareness of energy use in everyday practice. The design experiments were used as vehicles for thinking about the relationship between physical form, interaction, and social practice. The rationale behind the concepts was based on a small-scale ethnography, situated interviews, and design experience. Moreover, the thesis compares designer intention and actual user experiences of a prototype that was installed in nine homes in a residential area in Stockholm for three months. This was done in order to elicit tacit knowledge about how the concept was used in real-world domestic settings, to challenge everyday routines, and to enable both users and designers to critically reflect on artefacts and practices. From a design perspective, contributions include design approaches to communicating energy use: visualizations for showing relationships between behaviour and electricity consumption, shapes and forms to direct action, means for turning restrictions caused by energy conservation into central parts of the product experience, and ways to promote sustainable behaviour with positive driving forces based on user lifestyles. The general results indicate that inclusion is of great importance when designing energy awareness artefacts; all members of the household should be able to access, interact with, and reflect on their energy use. Therefore, design-related aspects such as placement and visibility, as well as how the artefact might affect the social interactions in the home,  become central. Additionally, the thesis argues that these types of artefacts can potentially create awareness accompanied by negative results such as stress. A challenge for the designer is to create artefacts that communicate and direct energy use in ways that are attractive and can be accepted by all household members as a possible way of life. / <p>In the electronic version of the thesis the references in some of the chapters has been corrected.</p>

Low-water landscaping is an essential tool for water conservation in the arid Intermountain West (IMW) for managing limited supplies and population-driven increased demand. The IMW harbors a large number of drought-tolerant native species that have potential for use in the low-water use landscape (LWL). However, many species are not available in the nursery trade due to their morphological confusion and establishment difficulty in the managed landscapes. The overall goal of this study is to elucidate morphological, ecophysiological, and genetic distinctions within two IMW native plant genera containing species with high urban low-water landscape potential.

This thesis explores different ways of relating to forests, and thus also different types of forestry. Starting with the Swedish forest industry one which is characterized by the planting of forests at the expense of natural regeneration, thus making Sweden the fifth country in the world in terms of planted area the study then examines different forests. This study is conducted with qualitative methods and by “following the seed” looks at various actors’ interests and potential flaws in the venture of planting forests. Different possibilities of doing forestry are explored in the thesis through letting modern forestry meet local forest-owners as well as a seed-collecting practice in central Sweden.  These processes are explored by understanding the forest as an assemblage of historical decisions, species and human interests, tracing relations and powers within and beyond forestsfrom a more-than-human perspective. Forestry emerges as an attempt at domestication of the forest and the thesis explores how it goes wild, as well as the meeting of modern industrialism and science with other world views, values and practices. This allows for an alternative understanding of forests, forestry beyond industrialism and modernity, and what sort of futures we might have living together with forests.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第24676号 / 農博第2559号 / 新制||農||1100(附属図書館) / 学位論文||R5||N5457(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科応用生物科学専攻 / (主査)教授 寺内 良平, 教授 髙野 義孝, 教授 吉田 健太郎 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

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L'arachide (Arachis hypogaea L.) est une plante allotétraploïde (2n = 4x = 40) issue d'un événement récent d'hybridation entre deux espèces sauvages suivi d'un doublement spontané des chromosomes. La variabilité génétique existant dans le compartiment cultivé est faible. Les espèces diploïdes sauvages apparentées à l'arachide cultivée représentent un important réservoir d'allèles nouveaux utilisables pour élargir le pool génique du cultigène. L'objectif général de cette thèse est d'augmenter les marges de progression en amélioration de l'arachide par recours aux ressources génétiques sauvages. Nous avons développé une population BC1F1 à partir du croisement entre Fleur11 et un amphidiploïde synthétique (A. ipaensis x A. duranensis)x4 qui associe les génomes des plus probables progéniteurs sauvages de l'espèce cultivée. Nous avons d'abord construit une carte génétique comprenant 298 loci positionnés sur 21 groupes de liaison avec une taille totale de 1843.7 cM. Nous avons ensuite conduit une analyse AB-QTL pour plusieurs caractères impliqués dans la productivité, l'adaptation et la domestication de l'arachide. Au total, nous avons cartographié 95 QTL. Pour plusieurs QTL, les effets positifs sont associés aux allèles provenant des espèces sauvages. Nous avons aussi identifié trois régions du génome qui portent des empreintes de la domestication. Nous avons enfin développé une population de 122 lignées d'introgression à l'aide d'une stratégie de sélection assistée par marqueurs. L'ensemble des groupes de liaison sont couverts avec des frag ments chevauchants, issus des donneurs sauvages, d'une taille moyenne de 39.2 cM et chaque lignée comprend en moyenne 1.2 fragments. Nous avons par ailleurs discuté l'utilisation de cette collection de lignées d'introgression pour des applications de sélection et de recherche. Nos résultats ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives pour l'amélioration de l'arachide par croisement avec les espèces sauvages apparentées. / Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is considered to be an allotetraploid (2n = 4x = 40) originated from a single hybridization event between two wild diploids followed by spontaneous chromosomes duplication. Cultivated peanut harbours a limited genetic diversity. Peanut wild relatives represent an important source of novel alleles that could be used to broaden the gene pool of the cultigen. The general objective of this work is to enhance the rate of progress in peanut breeding using wild species resources.We developed a BC1F1 population from the cross between Fleur11 and a synthetic amphidiploid (A. ipaensis x A. duranensis)x4 that combines the genomes of the most probable wild progenitors of the cultigen. We first developed a SSR based genetic map of 298 loci on 21 linkage groups, spanning a total map distance of 1843.7 cM. We then conducted a detailed AB-QTL analysis for several traits involved in peanut productivity and adaptation as well as in the domestication syndrome. We mapped a total of 95 QTLs. About half of the QTL positive effects were associated with alleles of the wild parents and several QTLs involved in yield components were specific to the water-limited treatment. We identified three genomic regions which bear footprints of domestication. We finally developed, through a marker assisted backcross strategy, an exotic introgression library of 122 lines. This population, which has in average 1.2 fragments per line, allows covering all linkage groups with overlappi ng wild donor fragments of in average 39.2 cM length. The utilization of the exotic introgression lines library for breeding and research is discussed. Our findings open new avenues for peanut improvement using wild relatives.

Les risques de sécheresse sévère augmentent sous l’effet du changement climatique. Mieux comprendre les stratégies adaptatives des plantes au stress hydrique est ainsi l’un des défis majeurs de la recherche écologique et agronomique. Cette thèse explore la survie à la sécheresse d’une graminée herbacée pérenne (Dactylis glomerata L.) en étudiant la variabilité intraspécifique des traits aériens et souterrains d’une quinzaine de populations natives et cultivées issues d’un gradient latitudinal allant de la Scandinavie au Maroc. Une caractérisation des populations en conditions optimales sur une année a montré une coordination phénologique des traits aériens en relation avec les limitations saisonnières de croissances liées à l’origine des populations. Le rythme de croissance au printemps et à l’automne ne discrimine pas les origines, alors que la dormance estivale des populations méditerranéennes s’oppose à la dormance hivernale des populations scandinaves. Ces résultats suggéraient l’existence d’un compromis entre survie à une déshydratation sévère (sécheresse, gel) et potentiel de croissance. Alors que ce compromis a été vérifié en été (sècheresse sévère à Montpellier) et en hiver (gel en Norvège), la survie à une déshydratation de contre-saison au printemps n’est pas corrélée au potentiel de croissance des populations. Les résultats invalident donc l’existence d’un compromis constant entre survie au stress et potentiel de croissance aérienne. Ce découplage chez le dactyle permet d’envisager la sélection artificielle, à partir de la variabilité intraspécifique existante, de variétés à la fois productives et tolérantes au stress hydrique. L’imposition d’une déshydratation édaphique sévère en pots limitant l’expansion du système racinaire a montré que les populations méditerranéennes survivent mieux que les populations tempérées ou nordiques. L’association de ces résultats avec ceux issus d’une expérimentation en longs tubes favorisant le développement potentiel des racines révèle un compromis entre les stratégies d’évitement de la déshydratation (acquisition de l’eau et maintien de la croissance) et de tolérance à la déshydratation (faible croissance et forte survie à la sécheresse) qui pourrait limiter la combinaison de stratégies adaptatives au sein d’un même phénotype. Cette thèse contribue à améliorer notre compréhension des compromis fonctionnels, peu étudiés à l’échelle intraspécifique, mais qui sous-tendent la réponse des plantes à la sécheresse. / Drought risk increases with climate change. Improving our understanding of the adaptive mechanisms of plants response to drought has thus become one of the major challenges of ecological and agronomical research. This work investigates the drought survival of a perennial herbaceous species (Dactylis glomerata L.) through the intraspecific variability of above and below ground traits expressed by fifteen native and cultivated populations originating from a large latitudinal gradient, from Scandinavia to Morocco. Population traits characterization across one year under optimal growth conditions showed phenological coordination of above ground traits associated with seasonal growth limitations according to the origins of the populations. The spring growth rhythm does not discriminate origins while the summer dormancy of Mediterranean population contrasts with the winter dormancy of Scandinavian populations. These results suggested a growth-dehydration stress survival trade-off. Although this trade-off was confirmed in summer (severe drought in Montpellier) and winter (severe frost in Norway), no correlation was found between an off-season (spring) drought stress survival and populations’ growth potential. The result invalidates the existence of a constant trade-off between stress survival and aerial growth potential. This apparent decoupling in cocksfoot could be considered to produce new cultivars with both high productivity and high drought tolerance, from existent intraspecific variability. A severe dehydration stress imposed on plants grown in short pots, limiting roots expansion, showed that Mediterranean populations survived better than temperate or Nordic populations. In association with a long tube experiment allowing full expression of roots development, this result revealed a functional trade-off between dehydration avoidance (water acquisition and growth maintenance) and dehydration tolerance (low growth and high drought survival) which could limit the combination of adaptive strategies in a single phenotype. This work contribute to improve our knowledge about functional trade-offs, few studied within species, that underpin plant response to drought stress.

La domestication est un processus évolutif complexe au sein duquel les pressions de sélection exercées par l'Homme conduisent à des changements morphologiques et physiologiques importants qui permettent de différencier sans ambigüité les espèces domestiquées de leurs ancêtres sauvages. Les récentes études archéobotaniques, génétiques et génomiques sur différentes plantes annuelles telles que notamment, le maïs (Zea mays L.), le riz (Oryza sativa L.) ou la tomate (Solanum lycopersicum L.) ont considérablement fait progresser notre compréhension de la domestication des plantes. A la différence des espèces annuelles, la domestication des plantes pérennes, en particulier les espèces fruitières, reste énigmatique.Dans ce contexte, l'objectif de ce travail est de contribuer à la compréhension du processus de domestication d'une plante pérenne fruitière emblématique, la vigne (Vitis vinifera L.) à travers l'étude de la diversité et de l'évolution de deux caractères majeurs du syndrome de domestication : la forme du pépin et le système de reproduction. Nos travaux sur la morphologie du pépin appréhendée par la méthode des transformées elliptiques de Fourier ont révélé des relations significatives entre la forme du pépin, le statut taxonomique (sauvage – domestiqué), l'origine géographique des cépages et leurs liens de parenté corroborant les résultats d'analyses génétiques acquises antérieurement. D'autre part, le changement de forme du pépin se produisant au cours de la domestication serait intimement lié à l'augmentation de la taille de la baie due aux pressions de sélection exercée par l'Homme. Concernant la transition de la diécie vers l'hermaphrodisme opérée au cours de la domestication, l'analyse du polymorphisme de séquences du locus du sexe a révélé que les vignes domestiquées seraient les descendantes d'individus mâles capables de produire des baies. Le patron de diversité de ces mêmes séquences corrobore l'idée d'un événement de domestication majeur de la vigne dans le Proche Orient et témoigne de l'existence d'introgressions du compartiment domestiqué par le compartiment sauvage dans l'Ouest du bassin Méditerranéen. / Domestication is a complex evolutionary process in which, human selection pressures lead to great morphological and physiological changes that allow to differentiate domesticated species from their wild ancestors. Recent archaeobotanical, genetic and genomic studies of various annual crops such as maize (Zea mays L.), rice (Oryza sativa L.) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) have significantly advanced our understanding of plant domestication. However, the domestication of perennial plants, particularly fruit trees, remains poorly documented compared to the domestication of annual crop plants.In this framework, this work aims to contribute to the understanding of the domestication process of the emblematic perennial plant, the grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) through the study of diversity and evolution of two major traits of the domestication syndrome: the seed shape and the reproductive system. Our work on seed shape based on the method of the elliptic Fourier transforms revealed significant relationships between seed shape, the taxonomic status (wild – domesticated), the geographic origin of cultivars and their parentage relationships, corroborating former results from genetic analysis. On the other hand, seed shape changes occurred during domestication seem to be linked to the increase of the berry size as the consequence of major human selection pressures. Regarding the transition from diecy to hermaphroditism to diecy operated during domestication, the analysis of sequence polymorphism in the sex locus revealed that domesticated grapevine would be the descendant of wild male individuals able to produce berries. The pattern of diversity of these sequences supports the hypothesis of the occurrence of a major domestication event in the Near East and testify of introgressions of Western European cultivars by local wild grapes.

Le phénomène dit de domestication moléculaire qui a été rapporté pour certains transposons à ADN a abouti à la formation de néogènes qui codent des protéines potentiellement impliquées dans la stabilité du génome de part une activité recombinase. L’objectif de ce travail est d’étudier l’expression de 23 recombinases néogéniques d’intérêt dérivées de transpsons à ADN dans une série de cancers colorectaux. Nous avons fabriqué de nouveaux anticorps performants pour l’étude en western blot et en immunofluorescence de l’expression du gène SETMAR qui code pour la protéine Metnase dans des lignées cancéreuse différentes et dans des tissus du côlon tumoraux et normaux. Nos résultats démontrent que la vaccination d’ADN avec la formulation utilisée est une méthode qui donne de meilleurs résultats que l'injection de peptide ou protéines purifiées. Nous avons observé une expression de la protéine metnase dans des lignées cancéreuses de cancer du côlon, de leucémie et de cancer du sein. Le niveau d’expression de cette protéine Metnase dans le cancer du côlon semble être associé au statut MSI ce qui suggère un rôle de cette protéine dans les mécanismes de carcinogenèse et de progression tumorale. / During a phenomena known as molecular domestication has been reported for some DNA transposons leading to the formation of Neogenes which encode proteins potentially involved in the genome stability. The objective of this work is to study the expression of 23 neogenic recombinases of interest derived from DNA transpsons in a series of frozen colorectal cancers. We have manufactured new effective antibodies for the study of the expression of SETMAR gene which encode Metnase protein in different cancer cell lines and tissues of colon tumoral and normal by the method of Western blot and immunofluorescence. Our results demonstrate that DNA vaccination with the formulation used here is a method that gives better results than the injection of peptide or purified proteins. We observed an expression of Metnase protein in cell lines of colorectal cancer, leukemia and breast cancer. The level of expression of the Metnase protein in colon cancer appears to be associated to the MSI status which suggests a role for this protein in the mechanisms of carcinogenesis and tumor progression.