Artificial nighttime lighting (ANL) is known to adversely affect animals, but little is known what the consequences are to plants. Two genotypes of Populus balsamifera, a common urban tree, were used to investigate how ANL impacts plants. While the two genotypes varied in their physiological sensitivity to ANL, poorer levels of net leaf carbon assimilation compared to control samples suggested that ANL perturbed the perception of time of day for these plants. Gene set analysis on a subset of PopGenExpress microarray samples identified time of day specific processes in P. balsamifera, and a set of candidate ANL-sensitive genes were identified from these. Transcript measurements from the two genotypes revealed that ANL affects plants at the molecular level, for the diel cycling of the putative ANL-sensitive genes was perturbed. Together, these results suggest that ANL affects plants at the physiological and molecular level by perturbing their perception of time of day.

This research project comprises a stage play Section 24 of the Criminal Code, and accompanying exegesis, which focuses upon the experience of a woman accessing the Criminal Justice system after she is raped. The play is in the verbatim model and draws upon court transcript, which is deconstructed to reveal the workings of Defence counsel 'storylines' and meta-narratives of gender, sexual availability and power. The exegesis investigates attitudes toward rape and rape victims perpetuated by Australian popular culture, and the way that myths about false rape complaints and 'deserving victims' continue to influence the reporting and conviction rates for rape. The thesis argues that recent reforms have yet to make an impact on the conviction rate or experience of women accessing the Justice system, because of entrenched misogyny within the system itself. Several factors contribute to widespread ignorance of the reality of our own Criminal Justice system, and the thesis proposes that a work of verbatim theatre may redress the paucity of understanding that enables the dysfunction of the current system. The paper explores the different approaches taken by Verbatim theatre practitioners and the appropriateness of the Verbatim theatre model for communicating this particular (lived) experience. Questions of ownership over one's story, and representation in that story indicate the emancipatory potential of a work. Where practitioners do not have a personal connection to their subject matter or material and access material that is already in the public domain, they may feel a greater freedom to manipulate story and character for dramatic effect, or to suit an activist agenda for change. It is shown that a playwright with a personal connection to her material and subject must address issues of ownership, ethical representation, veracity and verisimilitude when creating a piece of verbatim theatre. Preferencing the truth of the Complainant Woman's experience over the orthodoxies of the well-made play may contribute to a negative response to the work from male audiences. However, the thesis concludes that the subject of rape and its prosecution invokes a gendered response in itself, and ultimately questions the desirability of presenting a play that delivers a palatable story rather than an unpleasant truth.

The last few years have seen dramatic advances in genomics, including the discovery of a large number of non-coding and antisense transcripts. This has revolutionised our understanding of multifaceted transcript structures found within gene loci and their roles in the regulation of development, neurogenesis and other complex processes. The recent and continuing surge of knowledge has prompted researchers to reassess and further dissect gene loci. The ghrelin gene (GHRL) gives rise to preproghrelin, which in turn produces ghrelin, a 28 amino acid peptide hormone that acts via the ghrelin receptor (growth hormone secretagogue receptor/GHSR 1a). Ghrelin has many important physiological and pathophysiological roles, including the stimulation of growth hormone (GH) release, appetite regulation, and cancer development. A truncated receptor splice variant, GHSR 1b, does not bind ghrelin, but dimerises with GHSR 1a, and may act as a dominant negative receptor. The gene products of ghrelin and its receptor are frequently overexpressed in human cancer While it is well known that the ghrelin axis (ghrelin and its receptor) plays a range of important functional roles, little is known about the molecular structure and regulation of the ghrelin gene (GHRL) and ghrelin receptor gene (GHSR). This thesis reports the re-annotation of the ghrelin gene, discovery of alternative 5’ exons and transcription start sites, as well as the description of a number of novel splice variants, including isoforms with a putative signal peptide. We also describe the discovery and characterisation of a ghrelin antisense gene (GHRLOS), and the discovery and expression of a ghrelin receptor (growth hormone secretagogue receptor/GHSR) antisense gene (GHSR-OS). We have identified numerous ghrelin-derived transcripts, including variants with extended 5' untranslated regions and putative secreted obestatin and C-ghrelin transcripts. These transcripts initiate from novel first exons, exon -1, exon 0 and a 5' extended 1, with multiple transcription start sites. We used comparative genomics to identify, and RT-PCR to experimentally verify, that the proximal exon 0 and 5' extended exon 1 are transcribed in the mouse ghrelin gene, which suggests the mouse and human proximal first exon architecture is conserved. We have identified numerous novel antisense transcripts in the ghrelin locus. A candidate non-coding endogenous natural antisense gene (GHRLOS) was cloned and demonstrates very low expression levels in the stomach and high levels in the thymus, testis and brain - all major tissues of non-coding RNA expression. Next, we examined if transcription occurs in the antisense orientation to the ghrelin receptor gene, GHSR. A novel gene (GHSR-OS) on the opposite strand of intron 1 of the GHSR gene was identified and characterised using strand-specific RT-PCR and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). GHSR-OS is differentially expressed and a candidate non-coding RNA gene. In summary, this study has characterised the ghrelin and ghrelin receptor loci and demonstrated natural antisense transcripts to ghrelin and its receptor. Our preliminary work shows that the ghrelin axis generates a broad and complex transcriptional repertoire. This study provides the basis for detailed functional studies of the the ghrelin and GHSR loci and future studies will be needed to further unravel the function, diagnostic and therapeutic potential of the ghrelin axis.

Genome sequencing has yielded unparalleled insights into fundamental biological processes and the genetics that guide them. In contrast to expectations that protein-coding genes would be the primary output of eukaryotic genomes, however, it is now clear that the vast majority of transcription is devoted to noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). Although originally regarded as 'transcriptional noise', it is now clear that these transcripts are essential regulators of genetic activity. In this thesis I build upon the hypothesis that the genomes of eukaryotes encode a regulatory 'RNA machine' dominated by ncRNAs. In the Introduction (Chapter 1) I discuss how prior gene models may have inadvertently prevented a full understanding of ncRNAs, review the transcriptional landscape of eukaryotes, and examine the biogenesis and function of small regulatory RNAs. In support of a role for ncRNAs in complex metazoa, Chapter 2 presents data showing a positive correlation between the proportion of non-protein-coding DNA and biological complexity, suggesting that the evolutionary trajectory of intricate developmental phenotypes may have been facilitated by ncRNAs. In the following chapters two more 'gears' are added to the RNA machine. Chapter 3 details the discovery of snoRNA-derived RNAs - an evolutionarily ancient class of Argonaute-assocaited RNA whose biogenesis overlaps with microRNAs (miRNAs) and silencing RNAs (siRNAs). Likewise, Chapter 4 reports a new class of ~18 nt transcription initiation RNAs (tiRNAs) derived from regions proximal to transcription start sites. tiRNAs are enriched at GC-rich promoters and regions of active transcription, implicating them in transcriptional regulation. Chapter 5 presents evidence that tiRNAs are restricted to metazoa, and describes a model of RNA Polymerase II dependent tiRNA biogenesis. This thesis concludes with a general discussion of the implications of these findings, and the potential development of RNA therapeutics. Gathering evidence suggests that eukaryotic genomes are driven by a complex and interwoven network of RNA regulatory feedback loops. This thesis takes a small step towards developing a complete picture of this system.

Genome sequencing has yielded unparalleled insights into fundamental biological processes and the genetics that guide them. In contrast to expectations that protein-coding genes would be the primary output of eukaryotic genomes, however, it is now clear that the vast majority of transcription is devoted to noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). Although originally regarded as 'transcriptional noise', it is now clear that these transcripts are essential regulators of genetic activity. In this thesis I build upon the hypothesis that the genomes of eukaryotes encode a regulatory 'RNA machine' dominated by ncRNAs. In the Introduction (Chapter 1) I discuss how prior gene models may have inadvertently prevented a full understanding of ncRNAs, review the transcriptional landscape of eukaryotes, and examine the biogenesis and function of small regulatory RNAs. In support of a role for ncRNAs in complex metazoa, Chapter 2 presents data showing a positive correlation between the proportion of non-protein-coding DNA and biological complexity, suggesting that the evolutionary trajectory of intricate developmental phenotypes may have been facilitated by ncRNAs. In the following chapters two more 'gears' are added to the RNA machine. Chapter 3 details the discovery of snoRNA-derived RNAs - an evolutionarily ancient class of Argonaute-assocaited RNA whose biogenesis overlaps with microRNAs (miRNAs) and silencing RNAs (siRNAs). Likewise, Chapter 4 reports a new class of ~18 nt transcription initiation RNAs (tiRNAs) derived from regions proximal to transcription start sites. tiRNAs are enriched at GC-rich promoters and regions of active transcription, implicating them in transcriptional regulation. Chapter 5 presents evidence that tiRNAs are restricted to metazoa, and describes a model of RNA Polymerase II dependent tiRNA biogenesis. This thesis concludes with a general discussion of the implications of these findings, and the potential development of RNA therapeutics. Gathering evidence suggests that eukaryotic genomes are driven by a complex and interwoven network of RNA regulatory feedback loops. This thesis takes a small step towards developing a complete picture of this system.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-07-16Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:09:03Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 souto_lha_me_ia.pdf: 5906275 bytes, checksum: 6f47faebb288cbcfefa3f05d53c9a453 (MD5) / Esta pesquisa constitui um estudo crítico de transcrições para violão do repertório para instrumentos de cordas dedilhadas, particularmente vihuelas, guitarras e alaúdes dos séc. XVI ao XVIII. Objetivando a proposição de subsídios teóricos para a elaboração da interpretação desse repertório, este trabalho discute os sistemas de codificação, os procedimentos de transcrição e a execução musical do repertório em questão, por meio do diálogo entre as Práticas Interpretativas e a Musicologia Histórica, assumindo como vertentes metodológicas o estudo dos sistemas de codificação, a crítica textual e a análise interpretativa de gravações. / This research is a critical study of transcriptions for the guitar repertoire for plucked string instruments, particularly vihuela, guitars and lutes of the century. XVI to XVIII. Aiming to propose theoretical basis for the elaboration of the interpretation of this repertoire, this paper discusses the coding systems, procedures transcription and musical performance of the repertoire in question through dialogue between the practices and Historical Musicology and Interpretation Practices, assuming as methodological approaches the study of coding systems, textual criticism and the interpretative analysis of recordings.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-01-27T14:27:54Z No. of bitstreams: 4 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Dissertação - Cosme Luis de Almeida - 2014 (1).pdf: 18748213 bytes, checksum: 0ec6968228794598f5856e4303624fa9 (MD5) Dissertação - Cosme Luis de Almeida - 2014 (2).pdf: 18823898 bytes, checksum: 9d5dbcc6d89d10d50e2fad8f78130178 (MD5) Dissertação - Cosme Luis de Almeida - 2014 (3).pdf: 7540917 bytes, checksum: 4a3d2e88bba8c9064dd80e5905ae13fb (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-01-28T12:33:56Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 4 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Dissertação - Cosme Luis de Almeida - 2014 (1).pdf: 18748213 bytes, checksum: 0ec6968228794598f5856e4303624fa9 (MD5) Dissertação - Cosme Luis de Almeida - 2014 (2).pdf: 18823898 bytes, checksum: 9d5dbcc6d89d10d50e2fad8f78130178 (MD5) Dissertação - Cosme Luis de Almeida - 2014 (3).pdf: 7540917 bytes, checksum: 4a3d2e88bba8c9064dd80e5905ae13fb (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-01-28T12:33:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 4 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Dissertação - Cosme Luis de Almeida - 2014 (1).pdf: 18748213 bytes, checksum: 0ec6968228794598f5856e4303624fa9 (MD5) Dissertação - Cosme Luis de Almeida - 2014 (2).pdf: 18823898 bytes, checksum: 9d5dbcc6d89d10d50e2fad8f78130178 (MD5) Dissertação - Cosme Luis de Almeida - 2014 (3).pdf: 7540917 bytes, checksum: 4a3d2e88bba8c9064dd80e5905ae13fb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-27 / This work is the result of the process of transcribing the Passacaglia and Fugue BWV 582 by Johann S. Bach for the formation of two guitars from the procedures found in the transcript of his Concerto in G Major BWV 592 and transcription for harpsichord (BWV 592a). In addition to the procedures presented by Bach, we use data from transcriptions for piano of the Passacaglia and Fugue BWV 582. For these analyzes other works were chosen of Fritz Malata (1882-1949), Eugen d' Albert (1864-1932), Josef Weiss (1864-1945) and Georgy Catoire (1861-1926). The choice of these works analyzed is justified by using restriction characteristics of instrumental possibilities. The work consists of a presentation of our philosophical about the poetics of musical transcription precepts, plus some historical aspects that explain the use of the act of musical transcription over time, a view of transcriptional procedures used by Bach in the transcription of his work, a presentation of procedures employed by other transcribers and ultimately the exposure of the procedures used in transcription for two guitars of the Passacaglia and Fugue BWV 582. / Este trabalho é resultado do processo de transcrição da Passacaglia e Fuga BWV 582 de Johann S. Bach para a formação de dois violões a partir dos procedimentos encontrados na transcrição do seu Concerto em Sol Maior BWV 592 e a sua transcrição para cravo (BWV 592a). Além dos procedimentos apresentados por Bach, utilizaremos dados obtidos em transcrições para piano da Passacaglia e Fuga BWV 582. Para essas outras análises foram escolhidas obras de Fritz Malata (1882-1949), Eugen d’Albert (1864–1932), Josef Weiss (1864–1945) e Georgy Catoire (1861–1926). A escolha dessas obras analisadas se justifica por utilizarem características de restrição de possibilidades instrumentais. O trabalho consta de uma apresentação de nossos preceitos filosóficos a respeito da poética da transcrição musical, além de alguns aspectos históricos que expõem a utilização do ato da transcrição musical ao longo do tempo; uma exibição de procedimentos transcricionais utilizados por Bach na transcrição de sua obra; uma apresentação de procedimentos empregados por outros transcritores e, por fim, a exposição dos procedimentos utilizados na transcrição para dois violões da Passacaglia e Fuga BWV 582.

Proper development of skeletal muscle occurs through a highly complex process where activation and repression of genes are essential. Control of this process is regulated by timely and spatial expression of specific transcription factors (TFs). Six1 and Six4 are homeodomain TFs known to be essential for skeletal muscle development in mice. Using the C2C12 cell line, a model for skeletal muscle differentiation, I used a functional genomics approach, employing siRNA specific to both these TFs, to characterize their role in skeletal myogenesis. To identify the genes that are regulated by both these TFs, gene expression profiling by microarray of cells treated with siRNA against Six1 and/or Six4 was performed. The knock-down of these TFs caused lower expression of markers of terminal differentiation genes in addition to an impairment of myoblast fusion and differentiation. Interestingly, transcript profiling of cells treated with siRNA against myogenin revealed that several of the Six1 and Six4 target genes are also regulated by myogenin. Through a combination of bioinformatic analyses it was also found that specific knock-down of Six4 causes an up-regulation of genes involved in mitosis and the cell cycle. In summary, these results show that Six1 and Six4 can both independently regulate different genes, but can also cooperate together with other TFs where they play an important role in the proper regulation of skeletal myogenesis.

<p>This paper is a qualitative study that utilizes game players to learn more about the impact of game narrative, and to use this information to understand more of its role in the production of<br> games. Initial research into the topic revealed that many competing interests drive game production, but that if narrative was “down-prioritized” in production, a game was more likely to suffer compounding issues that could result in a poor end-product and launch. This nets monetary consequences for a studio, but also severely impacts the team of developers. As the game industry already faces widespread issues with crunch, long work hours over long periods of time, any additional strain on production exacerbates existing issues. Game production documentation is often held privately as the trade secrets of a given studio, so the most feasible way to address these questions is to seek a successful game with amble published documentation and compare those resources to the experiences players themselves have with the title. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was the game chosen.<br> A sample of 18 students from Purdue University completed an initial interest survey and provided demographic information. Of those who played games regularly, 4 participants were randomly selected to move forward with an audio and video recorded gameplay session that utilized a think-aloud protocol to capture moment-to-moment experience, and then an audio recorded interview about their experiences. These methods were employed to generate transcripts of their thoughts and experiences where the researcher conducted a thematic analysis of the content. Fifteen codes were synthesized from these transcripts and found that through the context of narrative, participants expressed that gameplay, aesthetics, and critical paths in a game facilitated their experiences with narrative. Participants approached the game and spoke about narrative in a variety of ways during the game session, but all came away with similar conclusions when interviewed. This suggests that game elements that convey narrative are highly effective and opens questions into how changes to those elements can sway interpretation and if that can be controlled for. Further, studying the patterns between these elements and determining what creates the most meaning for players could open new avenues for efficient game design. </p>

The claim to successfully have eliminated racism and xenophobia in socialist Germany was crucial for the GDR’s demarcation against the Federal Republic and for GDR’s political self-conception. According to the state party SED, both the GDR’s government and its people met with all members of the working class, regardless their ethnicity or culture, in the spirit of Völkerfreundschaft – the peoples’ friendship. In the early 1960s, suffering from a lack of work power, the GDR began to recruit foreign workers, and continued to do so up until German reunification. When workers arrived from Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia, the propositions of antiracism and peoples’ friendship were tested in practice. Following a discourse-analytical approach this study analyzes how the ideal of Völkerfreundschaft was dealt with and how it was exploited and altered both by citizens communicating with the state and within party-loyal circles. It examines when, why and by whom ethnicity was downplayed in favor of common class affiliation, and under which circumstances it regained importance. While latest research on foreigners in the GDR has focused on diagnosing the discrepancy between ideological claims and reality this study goes beyond such an approach and analyzes how this discrepancy was dealt with – both by state authorities, the state-owned factories and ordinary people – in everyday life.   This study is a contribution to migration research, as well as to everyday-life-history and history of mentality in the GDR.