No description available.

Rice is the leading staple for half the world’s population. Climate change, expanding populations and loss of agricultural land are projected to reduce rice yields by upwards of 30%. Significantly, rice yields decline by 10% for every 1°C increase in temperature. Temperatures ≥ 32°C can cause failure in male reproductive development and eliminate yields in some cultivars. This dissertation determined the developmental features and mechanisms associated with failure in male reproduction at temperatures of 32 °C and 36 °C in temperature tolerant and sensitive cultivars of O. sativa and O. glaberrima. Temperatures of 32 °C impaired anther dehiscence in the temperature sensitive cultivar of O. sativa by preventing septum cell wall degradation, which is essential for pollen dispersal. Temperatures of 36 °C induced abortion in pollen development either during meiosis primarily in O. sativa or at the uninucleate stage in O. glaberrima. Abortion during meiosis was associated with autophagic programmed cell death, whereas failure at the uninucleate stage of pollen development was associated with features of necrosis such as cytoplasmic shrinkage and cell wall collapse. Increased hydrogen peroxide production was detected in aborting meiocytes and uninucleate microspores at 36 °C, indicating that this reactive oxygen species may contribute to the failure of male reproductive development in rice during high temperature stress. Identification of the timing of failure in male reproductive development, and the cellular features associated with these processes in rice, form the basis for the identification of molecular mechanisms that control yield responses to high temperature stress.

Rice is the leading staple for half the world’s population. Climate change, expanding populations and loss of agricultural land are projected to reduce rice yields by upwards of 30%. Significantly, rice yields decline by 10% for every 1°C increase in temperature. Temperatures ≥ 32°C can cause failure in male reproductive development and eliminate yields in some cultivars. This dissertation determined the developmental features and mechanisms associated with failure in male reproduction at temperatures of 32 °C and 36 °C in temperature tolerant and sensitive cultivars of O. sativa and O. glaberrima. Temperatures of 32 °C impaired anther dehiscence in the temperature sensitive cultivar of O. sativa by preventing septum cell wall degradation, which is essential for pollen dispersal. Temperatures of 36 °C induced abortion in pollen development either during meiosis primarily in O. sativa or at the uninucleate stage in O. glaberrima. Abortion during meiosis was associated with autophagic programmed cell death, whereas failure at the uninucleate stage of pollen development was associated with features of necrosis such as cytoplasmic shrinkage and cell wall collapse. Increased hydrogen peroxide production was detected in aborting meiocytes and uninucleate microspores at 36 °C, indicating that this reactive oxygen species may contribute to the failure of male reproductive development in rice during high temperature stress. Identification of the timing of failure in male reproductive development, and the cellular features associated with these processes in rice, form the basis for the identification of molecular mechanisms that control yield responses to high temperature stress.

No description available.

Apparatus to measure the thermal conductivity of YBa(_2)Cu(_3)O(_7-δ) at temperatures between 20K and 120K has been designed and constructed. The thermal conductivity is measured using a longitudinal steady state heat flow technique. Thermal conductivity measurements have been performed upon a sample of YBa(_2)Cu(_3)O(_7-δ) which has been subjected to a series of heat treatments in order to remove oxygen from the material. The measurements show conclusively that the thermal conductivity of YBa(_2)Cu(_3)O(_7-δ) is very strongly influenced by the oxygen content of the material. A reduction of the oxygen content of the material results in a substantial lowering of the thermal conductivity. To explain this result, a quantitative model has been constructed; the model demonstrates that consideration of the changes in phonon interactions alone cannot account for the differences in the behaviour of the thermal conductivity of YBa(_2)Cu(_3)O(_6) and YBa(_2)Cu(_3)O(_7). In addition; the model, shows that there must be a significant carrier contribution to the thermal conductivity in both the normal and superconducting states. A physical process has been proposed which provides the required large carrier contribution below T(_c). Further studies have been performed on a series of samples of YBa(_2)Cu(_3)O(_7-δ) which were sintered at slightly different temperatures. Qualitative analysis of the physical properties, of these samples has been performed.

Integrated gasification combined cycle is an advanced electricity generation technology, based on coal gasification. Wider deployment requires further research into the components of the process, including coal gasification. The coal gasification reactions are the slowest step in the gasifier and therefore determine size and operating conditions. Understanding the rate of the gasification reactions at high temperatures is crucial for accurate design and optimisation of the gasification process. While the rates have been measured at low temperature, limited data exist at the high temperatures and pressures relevant to entrained flow gasifiers. As the reactions are solid gas reactions, at high temperature they depend on both reaction rate and gas diffusion rate, which complicates the extrapolation of low temperature data. High temperature data measured thus far is only applicable to certain coals, as the gasification rates were not related to char properties. The aim of this thesis was to measure the high temperature gasification rates of three coal char samples and interpret the results in terms of the char morphology and intrinsic reactivity. The results showed that the gasification rate depended on both intrinsic reaction rate and diffusion rate under the experimental conditions. The majority of the char particles were very swollen, with high porosity and thin walls, whereas the conventional analysis approach assumes porous spherical particles. The effectiveness factor approach was modified to incorporate flat-plate geometry, and used to extract the intrinsic reaction rate from the gasification rate data, which showed that the intrinsic reaction rate could be extrapolated to higher temperatures. The application of the effectiveness factor for estimating the gasification rate was demonstrated, and the modified approach was found to give a better estimation of char gasification rate at high temperature. Accurate measurement of char wall thickness and porosity was identified for potential improvement of the approach. Char conversion in a pilot-scale entrained flow gasifier was then explained in terms of char reaction rate, char morphology and reaction temperature, which showed the need for the development of more accurate models of char conversion in gasifiers, to which the work in this thesis can be applied.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 2000. / Also available online.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-72). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Master)--İzmir Institute Of Technology, İzmir, 2005. / Keywords: High temperature superconductors, tunneling. Includes bibliographical references (leaves. 109-114).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.