The environmental conditions driving the microbial community dynamics in crop soils remain unclear. Here, we focused on the spatial and temporal dynamics of microbial communities in soils cultivated with sugarcane under different soil managements, during two years. Our work was divided into three essential parts, where i) we discuss ecological models and theories for the microbial exploration in crop soils, arguing that those ecological models, which partitioned the microbial communities, may increase the resolution of the environmental and the microbial interactions; ii) we developed a probabilistic model based on the occurrence frequency of microorganisms across systems identifying the core microbial community. The model is based on the Poisson distribution, and it was tested in four datasets available in the Earth Microbiome Project; iii) we identified the core bacterial and fungal communities across soils cultivated with sugarcane, verifying which abiotic components could drive the composition of groups. We increased the resolution of the environmental and the microbial interactions, showing that the core and the variable microbial communities are driven by distinct abiotic components. We also observed that the core and variable microbial communities harbor distinct potential functionality, as nitrogen fixation being more predicted to the core bacterial commmunity, and nitrification process for the variable bacterial community. Our finds increase the knowledge of microbial dynamics and functionality, helping to reveal and explore the crop system microbiome. / As condições ambientais que podem modular a dinâmica da comunidade microbiana em solos de culturas são pouco conhecidas. O presente trabalho foi dividido em três partes essenciais, onde i) discutiu-se modelos e teorias ecológicas para a exploração microbiana em solo agrícolas, argumentando-se que os modelos ecológicos que particionam as comunidades microbianas, poderiam aumentar a resolução entre interações microbianas e o ambiente, ii) desenvolveu-se um modelo probabilístico baseado na freqüência de ocorrência de microorganismos através de sistema identificando a comunidade microbiana \"core\". O modelo baseou-se na distribuição de Poisson, sendo este testado em quatro conjuntos de dados disponíveis no Projeto \"Earth Microbiome\", e iii) identificou-se as comunidades bacterianas e fúngicas core em solos cultivados com cana-de-açúcar, verificando-se quais componentes abióticos poderiam modular a composição dos grupos. Com isso, elevou-se a resolução das interações ambiental e microbiana, indicando que o core microbiano e as comunidades microbianas variáveis são moduladas por componentes abióticos distintos. Observou-se também que as comunidades core e variável possuem funcionalidade potencial distinta, como fixação de nitrogênio mais predita para o core bacteriano e processo de nitrificação para a comunidade variável de bactérias. Os resultados do presente trabalho elevam o conhecimento da dinâmica e funcionalidade microbiana, ajudando a revelar e explorar o microbioma do sistema de cultivo.

The environmental conditions driving the microbial community dynamics in crop soils remain unclear. Here, we focused on the spatial and temporal dynamics of microbial communities in soils cultivated with sugarcane under different soil managements, during two years. Our work was divided into three essential parts, where i) we discuss ecological models and theories for the microbial exploration in crop soils, arguing that those ecological models, which partitioned the microbial communities, may increase the resolution of the environmental and the microbial interactions; ii) we developed a probabilistic model based on the occurrence frequency of microorganisms across systems identifying the core microbial community. The model is based on the Poisson distribution, and it was tested in four datasets available in the Earth Microbiome Project; iii) we identified the core bacterial and fungal communities across soils cultivated with sugarcane, verifying which abiotic components could drive the composition of groups. We increased the resolution of the environmental and the microbial interactions, showing that the core and the variable microbial communities are driven by distinct abiotic components. We also observed that the core and variable microbial communities harbor distinct potential functionality, as nitrogen fixation being more predicted to the core bacterial commmunity, and nitrification process for the variable bacterial community. Our finds increase the knowledge of microbial dynamics and functionality, helping to reveal and explore the crop system microbiome. / As condições ambientais que podem modular a dinâmica da comunidade microbiana em solos de culturas são pouco conhecidas. O presente trabalho foi dividido em três partes essenciais, onde i) discutiu-se modelos e teorias ecológicas para a exploração microbiana em solo agrícolas, argumentando-se que os modelos ecológicos que particionam as comunidades microbianas, poderiam aumentar a resolução entre interações microbianas e o ambiente, ii) desenvolveu-se um modelo probabilístico baseado na freqüência de ocorrência de microorganismos através de sistema identificando a comunidade microbiana \"core\". O modelo baseou-se na distribuição de Poisson, sendo este testado em quatro conjuntos de dados disponíveis no Projeto \"Earth Microbiome\", e iii) identificou-se as comunidades bacterianas e fúngicas core em solos cultivados com cana-de-açúcar, verificando-se quais componentes abióticos poderiam modular a composição dos grupos. Com isso, elevou-se a resolução das interações ambiental e microbiana, indicando que o core microbiano e as comunidades microbianas variáveis são moduladas por componentes abióticos distintos. Observou-se também que as comunidades core e variável possuem funcionalidade potencial distinta, como fixação de nitrogênio mais predita para o core bacteriano e processo de nitrificação para a comunidade variável de bactérias. Os resultados do presente trabalho elevam o conhecimento da dinâmica e funcionalidade microbiana, ajudando a revelar e explorar o microbioma do sistema de cultivo.

While extensive research has been conducted on the causes of intimate partner violence in the community, very little is known about rates and predictors of domestic violence perpetrated by offenders who have recently been incarcerated. Some evidence suggests that formerly incarcerated individuals may be at an increased risk to perpetrate intimate partner violence during the transition from prison to the community (e.g., Hairston & Oliver 2006; Hilton, Harris, Popham, & Lang, 2010; Oliver & Hairston, 2008). The primary goal of this dissertation was to examine the extent to which former inmates engage in domestic violence during the transition from prison to the community. A second goal of this dissertation was to determine the independent and interactive effects of selected individual, situational, and social-structural factors on post-prison domestic violence. The current dissertation project involved a retrospective study of data collected from n = 1,137 formerly-incarcerated male offenders who were released from state prison between 2004 and 2009. Data regarding individual-level factors of borderline and antisocial personality characteristics and exposure to family-of-origin violence were extracted from institutional records. Additional individual-level demographic characteristics including offenders' age, ethnicity, education need, marital status, number of children, crime of conviction, length of incarceration, and participation in correctional rehabilitation programs extracted from institutional records were also considered. The situational-level factor of offenders' employment after prison release was also collected from institutional records; and the social-structural factor of neighborhood disadvantage was collected from information available in offenders' community supervision records and Census tract-level data. The outcome measure of post-prison domestic violence was gathered from local law enforcement records. Data were entered into statistical models to predict post-prison domestic violence. Main effects on post-prison domestic violence were examined for each of the individual-level demographic characteristics, borderline and antisocial personality features, exposure to family-of-origin violence, employment, and neighborhood disadvantage. Interactive effects on post-prison domestic violence were examined between borderline and antisocial personality characteristics, exposure to family-of-origin violence, employment, and neighborhood disadvantage. Significant predicted main effects on post-prison domestic violence included age, ethnicity, education need, number of children, violent criminal history, attendance of substance abuse treatment in prison, witnessing interparental violence as a child, and neighborhood disadvantage. Significant predicted interaction effects on post-prison domestic violence included the interaction between physical abuse as a child and neighborhood disadvantage. Implications for policies regarding post-prison supervision sentencing, housing, and the advancement of programming to prevent intimate partner violence during the transition from prison to the community are discussed. Contributions to the literature on intimate partner violence, environmental transition theory, and ecological theoretical frameworks are also addressed.

Background: Urban form is a contributor to physical inactivity, which is a problem around the world. The association between urban form and physical activity is not fully understood, in part because improved methodologies of assessing urban form are necessary. This thesis consists of four studies that examined the association between urban form and physical activity in Edmonton, Alberta, using Geographic Information Systems. The research goals of this thesis were: (1) to compare two objective methods of assessing urban form walkability; (2) to examine the association between objective and subjective urban form measures and physical activity; and (3) to compare self-reported physical activity of individuals living in high and low walkability neighborhoods. Methods: Study 1 addressed Goal 1 and focused on objectively measuring urban form walkability based on public health and architectural (space syntax) measures. Study 2 addressed Goal 2 and focused on urban form association with self-reported physical activity. Study 3 addressed Goals 2 and 3 and focused on urban form association with self-reported walking. Study 4 addressed Goal 3 and involved an observational study of the pedestrian, cyclist, and vehicular movement in four neighbourhoods stratified by walkability and socio-economic status (SES). Results: Study 1 revealed agreement between public health and space syntax measures of assessing urban form. Study 2 revealed that only the objective environment was associated with physical activity. Study 3 revealed that only the perceived environment was associated with walking. Study 3 also revealed that walking as recommended was not different for individuals living in environments objectively assessed as higher versus lower in walkability. Study 4 revealed that observed pedestrian movement was higher in volume in neighbourhoods objectively assessed as higher in walkability. Cyclist movement was lower in volume in the neighbourhood classified as lower in walkability and in SES than in the other three neighbourhoods. Vehicular movement was no different in volume in the four neighbourhoods. Conclusion: Both objective and subjective urban form influence physical activity. A common Social Ecological Models - Space Syntax framework would enable a better understanding of urban form influences on physical activity.

“IF I AM LOSING THEM, I’M GOING TO CHANGE. SO THAT’S WHAT WE DID!”: THIRD GRADE TEACHERS CONTEMPLATE THE LITERACY NEEDS OF DIVERSE STUDENTS WITHIN A TEACHER STUDY GROUP by Megan A. Nason According to Birchak, Connor, Crawford, Kahn, Kaser, Turner, & Short (1998), Fang, Fu, & Lamme (2004), Kennedy & Sheil (2010), and Wiliam (2008), teacher study groups can provide a supportive and collaborative professional development environment. The purpose of this study was to examine the professional development experiences of three third grade teachers working with culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse (CLED) students in a high-needs school as they participated in a teacher study group. The adoption of national standards and pressures for all students to achieve high standardized test scores in math and reading due to Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act (2001) resulted in increased stress, anxiety, and uncertainty for the teachers participating in this study. The following research questions guided this qualitative, ethnographic case study: (1) In what ways does participation in a teacher study group impact elementary teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and understandings when teaching culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse students in a high-needs school? (2) In what ways do teachers’ literacy practices shift as a result of engaging in teacher study groups focused on issues related to culturally, linguistically and economically diverse student populations? Bronfenbrenner’s (1979; 1994) ecological models, Vygotsky’s (1978; 1986) sociocultural theory, and Ruddell and Unrau’s (2004) sociocognitive reading model served as theoretical frameworks that informed this naturalistic inquiry. Through constant comparative analysis (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) of data collected through pre- and post-interviews, bi-weekly teacher study group meetings, and classroom observations, the teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and understandings about how culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse (CLED) students learn and develop literacy skills were explored. The findings of this study demonstrate how teacher study groups can provide teachers with a safe space to build trusting relationships so that they can discuss school and classroom-related uncertainties, vulnerabilities, frustrations and successes. Shifts in enacted curriculum, instruction, and beliefs occurred as the teachers in this study attempted to negotiate their beliefs about how CLED children learn through engaging in conversations related to integrated curriculum, higher-order thinking, inquiry-based learning, literacy instruction, literacy development, and the diverse needs of their students.

No description available.

Under conditions of high self-regulatory effort, peripheral organ systems have been found to slow, potentially to rearrange energetic priorities in favor of the brain. The present study tested an expansion of this model by exploring the possibility that alcohol metabolism (i.e., liver function) may slow during self-regulation. We also anticipated that high trait self-control would attenuate the effect of condition on metabolism. Twelve males aged 21-25 completed two conditions in counterbalanced order. During each session, the participant received 0.33 ml/kg of absolute alcohol for a target peak blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.03 g%. Participants then performed tasks (self-regulatory tasks in the high self-regulation condition and identical tasks without a self-regulatory component in the low self-regulation condition) and BAC was measured throughout. Although there was no main effect of condition, trait self-regulation moderated the effect of condition on alcohol metabolism such that only those with lower trait self-control had slower alcohol metabolism under high self-regulatory effort. These results provide support for the hypothesis that liver function may indeed be altered by self-regulatory effort. In addition to suggesting the liver as a target organ for psychophysiological research, these data provide further support for slowing of peripheral systems during high self-regulatory demand.

Western studies have established that men from African descent are disproportionally affected by prostate cancer (PCa). Annual incidence rates in this population vary from 1.5 to 2 times when compared to their counterparts from other racial groups. They also record the worse outcomes in terms of prognosis. Additionally, with the rise of PCa in Subsaharan Africa, new cancer control policies and programs are increasingly demanded. Understanding therefore, factors that underpin racial inequality in distribution and especially why the disease preferentially niches in African males can help better address PCa in both Western and Subsaharan countries. There is also the potential to develop new therapeutic options. A genetic susceptibility was first hypothesized, however available data suggest that they only account for less than 20% of the cases. Current findings from epidemiological and molecular investigations suggest an important role of complex and dynamic environmental interactions involving the different levels of calcium regulation. Using a multi-method design, this research aims at developing an integrative mechanistic model of PCa. We argue that given the versatile and ubiquitous role calcium plays in nutrition, physical environment, and in key cellular processes, that mineral cation is central to prostate tumorigenesis and in shaping its populational distribution. Thus a tree-level investigation was conducted: (i) a critical analysis and synthesis of empirical evidence on calcium interactions with cancer mechanisms (ii) a population-wide prospective cohort study of calcium intake patterns in a group of Subsaharan males in Côte d’Ivoire, namely the African Prostate Cancer Study (APCS) (iii) a proteomics research investigating the responses of prostate cancer cell lines when exposed to a high affinity synthetic calcium binding peptide. This monograph describes the research methods, instruments design and validation and the preliminary findings of the ongoing research, portions of which have already been published, presented at two international cancer seminars or under review. Findings at this stage include: mechanistic models of prostate cancer differential distribution and outcomes, a novel calcium questionnaire specific to African diet, synthesis of a high affinity calcium-binding peptide (Peptide#1). New concepts and constructs related to prostatic carcinogenesis have been developed as well.

<p>Urbanisation and infrastructure developments impact on the surrounding natural environment and threaten biodiversity. The fragmentation of natural habitats in particular is a major obstacle for the preservation of biodiversity in a long-term perspective. In the planning process, both the environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment processes play a central role in the identification and prediction of impacts on biodiversity. At the same time, the devel-opment of GIS technologies and GIS-based ecological models offer new perspectives in the elaboration of predictions. In order to analyse current practices and identify the need for im-provements in the environmental impact process, a review of environmental impact assessment reports was carried out. Further, a review of existing GIS methods and GIS-based ecological models is presented. The results of the review of environmental impact assessment reports show a lack of predictions in current biodiversity assessments. These asssessments often concentrate on impacts at the local scale, failing to consider large-scale and widespread impacts at the ecosys-tem and landscape levels. The review of GIS methods and GIS-based ecological models demon-strate the possibility to generate quantitative predictions for a specific area as well as for it’s sur-rounding environment. At the same time, the flexibility and reproducibility of such methods would allow predictions to be made for different alternatives or scenarios, therefore providing decision makers with relevant information of potential impacts on biodiversity. This would, in turn, result in an improved integration of biodiversity issues in physical planning and contribute to a sustainable development.</p>

Orientador: Marcus Aloizio Martinez de Aguiar / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Física Gleb Wataghin / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-17T01:49:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Araujo_SabrinaBorgesLino_D.pdf: 18627531 bytes, checksum: aed18ab505ee489e8cde08b6d2850bba (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: Neste trabalho estudamos a dinâmica espaço-temporal de cadeias alimentares compostas por duas e três espécies. Utilizamos uma modelagem baseada nos indivíduos, que consiste em tratar cada membro da população de forma explícita. Um dos ingredientes do modelo é a possibilidade de restringir a área de forrageio dos predadores à uma região circular, de raio R, em torno da sua residência. O tamanho desta região é tratado como uma característica adaptativa, sujeita à pequenas variações aleatórias ao longo das gerações. Observamos que existe um raio de predação ótimo R', para o qual os predadores evoluem. Desenvolvemos cálculos analíticos utilizando aproximações de Campo Médio com correlações de pares e verificamos que a estratégia de predação é um mecanismo crucial para a ocorrência do raio ótimo. Observamos também que a distribuição da abundância de indivíduos por região espacial pode exibir um comportamento invariante de escala, indicando que o sistema é criticamente auto-organizado, e que a ocorrência de surtos populacionais locais é uma característica intrínseca do sistema / Abstract: In this work we study the spatial dynamics of two and three species food chains. We use an individual based model, which treats each member of the population explicitly. One of the model ingredients is the possibility to control the size of the predators foraging area, defined as a circular neighborhood, of radius R, around their home position. This home range size is treated as an adaptive, subject to small random variations along generations. We find that the predators evolve to a optimum predation radius R'. We develop analytical approximations using mean field and pair correlation techniques that indicate that the predation strategy is crucial for existence of this optimum radius. We also find that the population abundance distributions display a scale invariant power law tail, indicating self-organized criticality and that the occurrence of local outbreaks is an intrinsic characteristic of the system / Doutorado / Ciências Exatas e da Terra / Doutora em Ciências