This dissertation traces the long-term evolution of the Inner Bluegrass region of central Kentucky with a focus on the period between the first Euro-American incursions into the area and the Civil War era. Utilizing an agroecological perspective that analyzes cultivated landscapes for their ecological features, it explores the ever-shifting mix of cultural and natural influences that shaped the local environment. Most prominently, it reveals the extent to which intertwined strands of capitalism and slavery mingled with biology to produce the celebrated Bluegrass agricultural system. It begins with an appraisal of the landscape before white men like Daniel Boone arrived, emphasizing the roles native cultures played in shaping regional ecology and arguing for a more complex periodization of eighteenth century Kentucky. The frontier period from the 1770s through the 1790s witnessed a struggle for control over the region linked to competing ideas about how the local landscape might best be used by humans. That Euro-Americans ultimately emerged victorious in this contest held tremendous ecological consequences as domesticated species, organized according to Euro-American agricultural principles, spread across the region. Introduced plants, such as corn, hemp, and bluegrass, and livestock, including hogs, cattle, sheep and horses, increasingly filled ecological niches previously held by native flora and fauna like cane, elk, and buffalo. As Kentuckians set about refining their influence over the surrounding natural world during the final decades of the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth, their actions demonstrated the varied ecological, economic, and cultural connections and incentives engendered by their slave-reliant, market-oriented agricultural system. These connections exposed the Bluegrass landscape to national and international currents that enriched some Kentuckians, encouraged the exploitation of others, and facilitated a dramatic simplification of the regional ecology in pursuit of economic gain. Yet, the transformations of the local ecology and the demands of those cultivating it also affected national and international events such as the American Revolution, Louisiana Purchase, and the Civil War. The environmental history of the Bluegrass agricultural landscape demonstrates the complexity of influences on the antebellum world and suggests that complexity continues to affect the regional ecology and culture well into the twenty-first century.

Research was conducted in 2012 and 2013 to evaluate the use of saflufenacil in rice (Oryza sativa L.). Studies included a preemergence evaluation of different rates of saflufenacil in comparison to one rate of carfentrazone, a postemergence evaluation of saflufenacil at different rates and carfentrazone at one rate at different postemergence timings, an adjuvant evaluation to assess rice injury and weed control from different adjuvants when mixed with saflufenacil, a Clearfield program evaluation where saflufenacil was compared to other broadleaf herbicides in a Clearfield weed control program, and a cultivar tolerance evaluation where postemergence applications of saflufenacil were compared to carfentrazone on five different commercial rice cultivars.

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Fibre plants favour different growth conditions and require different levels of husbandry. However, the fibres share some physical and material properties, which make them difficult to distinguish in the archaeological record. This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of methods for characterising bast fibres including; fibre chemical analysis, mechanical testing and fibre morphology, to propose that longitudinal microfibrillar angle (MFA) and cross-sectional circularity (Ct) used in a two-step procedure to analyse selected modern fibres of nettle (Urtica dioica L.), flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) and hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) could offer an alternative approach. The reliability of MFA and Ct, as diagnostic features, was evaluated under a temperature accelerated degradation 48week trial with eight fibre types from three deposition soils Post deposition, surviving fibres were subjected to evaluation of changes in MFA and Ct. An additional check on the diagnostic efficacy was conducted within a blind-test protocol. Finally, the research programme employs MFA and Ct in the diagnosis of a range of archaeological textile fibres from museum collections and fibres from the Kasr el Yahud mass burial. The thesis includes recommendations to address future post thesis research programmes.

Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) has a long history of human use. Early in the 20th century, some predicted hemp would be the first billion dollar crop given its multiple industrial applications. Government policy that restricted, then prohibited, hemp's use in the U.S. prevented that from happening. A reawakening to the versatility and usefulness of hemp for products ranging from engineering fibers and textiles to food and health products has developed over the last 30 years. Hemp-based products are thriving on the market for public demand. In Virginia, passage of legislation in 2017 made hemp a legal cash crop. Appropriate management decisions rely on information available from researchers. However, very few data on hemp production are available for this region. Hemp varieties may differ in part due to the broad range of latitude associated with their source of origin (e.g., from Italy to Finland in Europe) and thus the plant's differential responses to light and temperature regimes. Thus, a factor such as varietal response to soil temperature at germination could be an important variable for successful establishment, which is critical to crop productivity. Stand establishment, in turn, may be affected by factors such as germination temperature, which has implications for planting date. Along with establishment, few data have been published regarding hemp's tolerance to different herbicides. To date, the only published studies from the Southern region of the United States regarding hemp production in response to herbicide treatments were conducted in Kentucky. Generating basic information on hemp response to temperature for germination and tolerance to herbicides will be important step for developing a suite of useful agronomic practices that support the incorporation of hemp into Virginia cropping systems. The hemp industry's development in Virginia is still in its early stages, and the research described here focused on questions related to germination temperature and herbicide tolerance will help to improve our understanding of and determine suitable agronomic practices for the crop We thus designed experiments to test the following null hypotheses: Industrial hemp will not differ in germination response to temperatures, regardless of source of origin. Industrial hemp will not differ in measures of visible injury, yield, and growth in response to preemergent or postemergent herbicide treatments. / Master of Science / Industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) has a long history of human use. Early in the 20th century, some predicted hemp would be the first billion dollar crop given its multiple industrial applications. Government policy that restricted, then prohibited, hemp’s use in the U.S. prevented that from happening. A reawakening to the versatility and usefulness of hemp for products ranging from engineering fibers and textiles to food and health products has developed over the last 30 years. Hemp-based products are thriving on the market for public demand. In Virginia, passage of legislation in 2017 made hemp a legal cash crop. Appropriate management decisions rely on information available from researchers. However, very few data on hemp production are available for this region. Hemp varieties may differ in part due to the broad range of latitude associated with their source of origin (e.g., from Italy to Finland in Europe) and thus the plant’s differential responses to light and temperature regimes. Thus, a factor such as varietal response to soil temperature at germination could be an important variable for successful establishment, which is critical to crop productivity. Stand establishment, in turn, may be affected by factors such as germination temperature, which has implications for planting date. Along with establishment, few data have been published regarding hemp’s tolerance to different herbicides. To date, the only published studies from the Southern region of the United States regarding hemp production in response to herbicide treatments were conducted in Kentucky. Generating basic information on hemp response to temperature for germination and tolerance to herbicides will be important step for developing a suite of useful agronomic practices that support the incorporation of hemp into Virginia cropping systems. The hemp industry’s development in Virginia is still in its early stages, and the research described here – focused on questions related to germination temperature and herbicide tolerance – will help to improve our understanding of and determine suitable agronomic practices for the crop We thus designed experiments to test the following null hypotheses: Industrial hemp will not differ in germination response to temperatures, regardless of source of origin. Industrial hemp will not differ in measures of visible injury, yield, and growth in response to preemergent or postemergent herbicide treatments.

Cannabis sativa L. is a species of flowering plant from the Cannabaceae family which contains over 100 different phytocannabinoids and terpenes. The therapeutic effectiveness of Cannabis sativa L. depends on the cannabinoid content, and the unique aroma in this plant is produced by the terpenes. The two most widely known cannabinoids are Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). The legalization of hemp (defined as Cannabis sativa L. < 0.3% Δ9-THC by dry mass) has flooded the market with various hemp and hemp-derived consumer products. These studies focus on using Liquid Chromatography and Gas Chromatography to survey the cannabinoid and terpene content observed for commercially popular Cherry Wine hemp cultivars. Twelve samples of Cherry Wine hemp were obtained representing three field grown hemp plants, a hemp plant grown in a controlled indoor environment, and eight cloned hemp plants also grown in a controlled indoor environment. The analyses revealed variability in the cannabinoid and terpenes contents that reflect plant genetics, daylight exposure duration, and hemp processing and storage conditions. Nitrogen was examined as a substitute carrier gas for increasingly expensive helium for the analysis of terpenes. Finally, Liquid Chromatography was also applied to evaluate the cannabinoid content versus label claims of ten Δ8-Tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ8-THC) hemp-derived consumer products. Examples of under and over reporting of cannabinoids were observed indicating potential risks to consumer safety and need for improved product regulation.

This dissertation investigates the development of binder-free biomass-derived activated carbon electrodes for energy storage applications. Firstly, it introduces various electrochemical storage mechanisms and discusses the potential of utilizing industrial crops in electrode manufacturing. Subsequently, existing literature on industrial crop utilization for electrode materials is reviewed. Following this, methods for producing binder-free activated carbon electrodes from biomass sources are explored. The impact of retting on electrode properties is investigated, examining how different processing techniques influence performance. Mechanical stress and flow simulations are employed to gain insights into the behavior and performance of these unique electrodes. The study concludes with a comprehensive summary of findings and recommendations for future research directions, highlighting the potential of binder-free biomass-derived activated carbon electrodes in advancing sustainable energy storage solutions.

Hemp seed proteins (HSP) were investigated for physicochemical and functional properties in model food systems. In addition, the HSP were enzymatically digested and the released peptides investigated as potential therapeutic agents. Membrane isolated HSP (mHPC) were the most soluble with >60% solubility at pH 3-9 when compared to a maximum of 27% for isoelectric pH-precipitated proteins (iHPI). However, iHPI formed emulsions with smaller oil droplet sizes (<1 µm) while mHPI formed bigger oil droplets. The iHPI was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis using different concentrations (1-4%) of six proteases (pepsin, pancreatin, flavourzyme, thermoase, papain and alcalase) to produce various HSP hydrolysates (HPHs). HPHs had strong in vitro inhibitions of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and renin activities, the two main enzyme systems involved in hypertension. Oral administration of the HPHs to spontaneously hypertensive rats led to fast and persistent reductions in systolic blood pressure. The HPHs also inhibited in vitro activities of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), a serine hydrolase whose excessive activities lead to inadequate level of the cholinergic neurotransmitter, acetylcholine (ACh). Inadequate ACh level in the brain has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD); therefore, AChE inhibition is a therapeutic target. The 1% pepsin HPH was the most active with up to 54% AChE inhibition at 10 µg/mL peptide concentration. The 1% pepsin HPH (dominated by <1 kDa) was subjected to reverse-phase HPLC peptide purification coupled with tandem mass spectrometry, which led to identification of several peptide sequences. Some of the peptides inhibited activities of both animal and human AChE forms with LYV being the most potent against human AChE (IC50 = 7 µg/ml). Thus the LYV peptide may serve as a useful template for the development of future potent AChE-inhibitory peptidomimetics. In conclusion, several novel AChE-inhibitory peptides were discovered and their amino acid sequences elucidated for the first time. Results from this work identified HSP products that could serve as functional ingredients in the food industry. The work also produced and confirmed the in vitro AChE-inhibitory activities of several new peptide sequences that may serve as therapeutic agents for AD management. / October 2015

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:19:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2008 - Ana Maria Motta Ribeiro.pdf: 1483676 bytes, checksum: f690f9b834362b5dbb0eb9c9597a9fbd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-29 / This paper tries to analyze, in a critical way, the syndicalism in the Polo Sindical do Subm?dio S?o Francisco, inserted in a region identified by the Press as the Hemp Polygon. It intends to understand, from the field work, the insertion of the subject of the hemp plantation (criminalized) in the agenda of the Polo Sindical do Subm?dio S?o Francisco. The study intends to understand this phenomenon through a historical retrospection and an analysis about the region understood as a social-political production of territorialities. Also, it develops an attempt of explanation of the crossing between illegal agriculture and the dynamic of syndical struggle for the recovery of the version which the entity produces and legitimates as its biography in order to understand how and by whom the justification of that crossing is built. In this process of sociological undoing of the Hemp Polygon, it is shown how, when and through which means the subject of the illegal cultivation enters the agenda of the entity. / Esta TESE tenta analisar de modo cr?tico o sindicalismo do P?lo Sindical do Subm?dio S?o Francisco inserido numa regi?o identificada pela M?dia como o Pol?gono da Maconha . Pretende compreender, a partir de pesquisa de campo, a entrada do tema do plantio de maconha (criminalizado) na agenda do P?lo Sindical do Subm?dio S?o Francisco. O estudo pretende entender esse fen?meno atrav?s de uma retrospectiva hist?rica e de uma an?lise sobre a regi?o entendida como uma produ??o s?cio pol?tica de territorialidades. Tamb?m desenvolve uma tentativa de explica??o do cruzamento entre agricultura il?cita e a din?mica da luta sindical, pela recupera??o da vers?o que a entidade produz e legitima como sua biografia para entender como ? elaborada e por quem, a justificativa desse cruzamento. Neste processo de desconstru??o sociol?gica do Pol?gono da Maconha, se destaca como, quando e atrav?s de que media??es o tema do cultivo il?cito entra na agenda da entidade.

Il rinnovato interesse nella coltivazione della canapa industriale non è stato supportato da studi approfonditi e generalmente si basa su esperienze dirette di coltivazione. Questo studio si prefigge come obbiettivo quello di sfruttare tutte la parti della pianta di canapa per migliorare l’economicità complessiva della sua coltivazione tramite l’uso di tecniche agronomiche e di pratiche post-raccolta. La Cannabis sativa ha un vasto campo di applicazioni, tra cui le più promettenti in termini di ritorno economico sono il cosmetico e il farmaceutico. I composti naturali più interessanti della Cannabis sono i cannabinoidi non-psicoattivi cannabidiolo (CBD) e cannabigerolo (CBG) presenti in elevate concentrazioni nelle foglie e nelle brattee di Cannabis. Altri metaboliti secondari prodotti dalla canapa e di grande interesse sono le cannflavine, una classe di prenil-flavonoidi caratteristico di questa specie. Nel primo e nel secondo capitolo la dinamica temporale di accumulo dei metaboliti secondari ad elevato valore aggiunto è stata monitorata per alcune delle varietà più comuni di canapa industriale ed è stata determinata la produzione potenziale di questi composti. Nel terzo capitolo una collezione di semi di canapa è stata valutata per le caratteristiche morfologiche e per il contenuto e la qualità dell’olio. Concludendo questo studio contribuisce allo sviluppo di una coltivazione della canapa per le molteplici destinazioni d’uso dei semi e del fitocomplesso. / Rapidly growing interest into industrial hemp cultivation is not supported by strong data and generally is referred to a limited experience on field cultivation. This study aims to exploit all the parts of hemp plant, in order to ameliorate the overall economy of its cultivation and by providing information on agronomic management and post-harvest operations. Cannabis sativa has a wide range of industrial applications and the most promising, in terms of economic revenues, are the cosmetic and pharmaceutics. The most interesting phytochemicals in Cannabis are the cannabinoids, in particular the non-intoxicating compounds cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG), present at high concentration in the leaves and bracts of Cannabis. Some other promising secondary metabolites of hemp are cannflavins, a class of prenyl-flavonoids characteristic of this species. In the first and second chapter the time course accumulation of high added-value compounds was monitored for some of the most common industrial hemp cultivars, and the potential production was assessed. In the third chapter a collection of hemp seeds was evaluated for its morphological characteristics and for its oil content and quality. In conclusion this thesis contributes to a further development of multipurpose hemp cultivation for seed and phytocomplex production.