This imaginative work of fiction depicts the lives of the Foley family. After a brutal car accident, Kate Foley has lived for the past fourteen years at Gregg Catastrophic Care Center in a persistent vegetative state, leaving her daughter Grace and husband Tom to reconstruct their lives around her. Aside from her mother’s condition, life is relatively normal for Grace; she worries about school, boys, her friends. Then her mother slowly regains consciousness. The family gathers around Kate’s bedside. Grandmother Helen arrives along with Aunt Liz, family that Grace cannot remember, and their stories of her mother’s past are vastly different from the ones her father has told her. Over the next emotional months, secrets are revealed, new alliances forged and others broken as each member of the family grapples with their own issues of memory, self and what it means to be fully present.

Equisetum arvense is an evolutionary old species that is common as a perennial weed in Europe, North America and Australia. It reproduces vegetatively via rhizomes and tubers and due to this it spreads efficiently below ground after initial establishment. The aim of this study was to increase the knowledge of performance during early growth of the species. This included differences between clones along a gradient throughout Sweden, development of tubers and rhizomes, local adaptation and the overall variation within the species. Rhizomes of E. arvense were collected from three different places in each of four regions, up to 1000 km apart, in Sweden. Clones from the twelve places were planted in spring for a common garden study. During summer the plants were watered when needed and during late summer the plants were harvested every second week until late autumn. Data recorded were tuber and rhizome biomass, aboveground biomass, number of tubers and three different tuber characteristics. The results showed clone specific phenotypes, but no gradient response or adaptation to regions, e.g. the clone with the highest and the clone with the lowest tuber biomass in relation to the rhizome biomass were from the same region. During early growth, the plants developed continuously with rapid increase of belowground biomass after development of aboveground photosynthetic parts. Tuber productions differed a lot between clones. The relationship between tubers and rhizomes may affect the clone’s possibility to be competitive in different environments. Management advice may need to be based on clone specific knowledge.

The United States contains an estimated 100,000 miles (160000 km) of levees in which erosion related issues are the top priorities. Proper documentation of overtopping induced erosion is a complicated issue involving the collection and analysis of timesensitive field data and personal observations. This thesis is a study of the performance of the Midwest Levee system during the 2008 flooding events. The goal of the Midwest Levee investigation was to gather and analyze perishable data in an effort to provide a comprehensive overview at each breach location. To predict how a site will perform during a particular flood event, there are three main inputs: the flood conditions, the site conditions, and the soil properties. Site geometry and imperfections can greatly affect the performance of a levee system. Any low spots or potential seepage paths can concentrate the flow and be detrimental to the levee. The vegetative cover is the single most important condition at a site. As seen in the Brevator case, vegetative armor can prevent failure of a levee comprised of less resistant soils subjected to long periods of overtopping. Recommended grasses include: Switchgrass, Smooth Brome, Reed Canarygrass, and Tall Fescue. It is also recommended that grasses are kept at least 0.5 m tall during the flood season and to limit the presence of trees to 10 m beyond the levee toe. The erosion resistance of the materials comprising the levee is also important. From the correlations in this study, it was determined that erodibility is influenced by grain size, relative compaction, clay content, and activity. Devices like the Torvane and Pocket Erodometer can also be used to get a quick field estimate of erosion. While these correlations and field devices give insight into an erodibility value, they are no substitute for site specific analysis with laboratory equipment such as the Erosion Function Apparatus. Soil behavior is highly nonlinear and the entire erosion function is needed to get an accurate measure of the erodibility of a soil. By combining these properties in an erosion matrix, a prediction of whether a site will withstand a given flood event can be made.

Rhizophytic algae are large, abundant primary producers throughout tropical and subtropical areas worldwide where they grow as an understory in seagrass beds, as well as form mixed or monospecific beds of exclusively rhizophytic algal species. In this dissertation, "rhizophytic algae" refers to coenocytic green algae (Chlorophyta) in the order Bryopsidales that use a net of rhizoids to anchor in unconsolidated sediments. In the development of seagrass beds, rhizophytic algae colonize bare patches and are thought to facilitate seagrass colonization by stabilizing sediments and providing organic matter. However, despite their prominence little is known about many aspects of the ecology of rhizophytic algae. Detailed information on the abundance and biomass of rhizophytic algae at the species level is scarce and the belowground components are seldom quantified. Moreover, rhizophytic algal communities located along the central west coast of Florida have received very little study. At three shallow coastal sites in the Lower Florida Keys and one on the central west coast of Florida, I measured the abundance, biomass, organic content, and morphometric features of the above- and belowground portions of all rhizophytic algal species present along transects in seagrass-algal bed habitat. Relatively diverse assemblages of these algae were present both in areas with and without a seagrass canopy, though dense (greater than or equal to 50%) seagrass cover correlated with decreased algal richness. Rhizophytic algal densities at Keys sites ranged from 68 - 143 thalli m-2 with total dry weights of 76.4 - 226.7 g m-2 with only calcified species present. The west coast of Florida site had the highest aboveground organic biomass (180 g m-2), the highest abundance of rhizophytic algae (365 thalli m-2), and abundant uncalcifed algae of the genus Caulerpa. Morphometric characteristics varied within a species among sites and may reflect differences in abiotic variables such as sediment grain size. The anchoring structures of these algae, made up of fine rhizoids and attached sediment, occupied up to 5.3% of the total volume of the top 5 cm of substrate. My results indicate that across rhizophytic algal species, even within a genus, the production of belowground structure and potential influence on ecosystem function is highly variable and not necessarily related to the aboveground biomass. These results provide new information on belowground structure provided by rhizophytic algal species and characterize the rhizophytic algal community on the central west coast of Florida. The role of rhizophytic algae in seagrass bed succession has been recognized, but little is known about the rate and species composition of colonization of recently created bare patches. In a series of field experiments at three sites on the central west coast of Florida, recruitment by rhizophytic algae into created cleared areas was rapid and dominated by two species of Penicillus and Udotea flabellum. In three weeks, rhizophytic algae were able to recruit, grow to their full height, and bind sufficient sediment to create full-sized holdfasts. Additional field experiments described here show thalli of all of the rhizophytic algal species tested (three species in three genera) were able to regenerate from holdfasts (with small stubs of stipe attached) in a matter of weeks. Overall, my results suggest that belowground structures play a key role in recolonization by, and recovery of, rhizophytic algae after disturbance and are likely important to the long-term persistence of these algal populations. Bryopsidalean algae often have high concentrations of defensive compounds inside their thalli and these terpenoid secondary metabolites possess anti-fouling capability in laboratory tests. Because fouling is ubiquitous in marine environments and epibonts have harmful effects on their hosts, researchers have proposed that rhizophytic algae use these compounds to prevent fouling. For this to be an effective strategy, the compounds must be presented to potential colonizers on the external aboveground surfaces. Thus, I examined the chemistry of rhizophytic algal surfaces using extractions that avoid mechanical damage. Secondary metabolites were not detected in the surface extracts of four species while these compounds were detected in the whole plant extracts. My results, coupled with previous studies on the degradation of these metabolites in seawater and the presence of fouled plants in the field, and suggest non-polar secondary metabolites are not deployed onto the surfaces of rhizophytic algae as a defense against fouling.

Alternation of indicators of lactate and vegetative systems during heightening of load. Purpose of the investigation was to compare alternation of vegetative systems indicators and blood lactate concentrations and during iterative load heightening. Tasks of the investigation: to compare alternation of vegetative systems indicators during replacement and recovery under different loads in respect of lactate threshold. Eight young healthy males took part in the investigation. Average age of subjects was 21,7 years. Investigation was carried out in Laboratory of Sports Physiology of Lithuania Physical Education Academy. Every subjects has undergone two different investigations: working with veloergometer. One –interval increasing load (3 min of work and 3 min of rest), mill-pedalling frequency – 70 times per minute; the other one – continuous increasing load until subject’s inability to maintain required pedalling frequency. The first load was 70 W. Capillary blood sampling was done from finger at the end of the third min of each load during interval test. While doing continuous increasing load subjects after the warming-up (5 min of work with 50 W of capacity) with the help of the veloergemeter produced continuous load that was heightened by 21 W every minute. Wheeling frequency was 70 times per minute. Starting load was 70 W. Load was continuously heightened until the fatigue, i.e. until the subject was able to take a new load for one minute. During the whole investigation and... [to full text]

Biennial bearing, low precocity, and vigorous vegetative growth are major production constraints of ‘Northern Spy’ apple trees. Experiments were conducted in bearing and non-bearing ‘Northern Spy’/M.9 orchards to determine whether plant bioregulator applications of ethephon (ETH), napthaleneacetic acid (NAA), prohexadione-calcium (P-Ca), and/or benzyladenine (BA) could be used to overcome these production constraints of ‘Northern Spy’. Ethephon application at 150, 300, or 450 mg∙L-1 in the ‘on’ year increased return bloom, fruit yield, and alleviated biennial bearing in the ‘off’ year in a positive linear relationship to concentration when trees were moderately biennial in cropping. Applications applied 22 June were more effective than 27 July or 31 Aug. applications. However, single or multiple (2, 3, or 4) application(s) of 150 mg∙L-1 ETH or 5 mg∙L-1 NAA were ineffective when trees were not biennial. Two ETH applications at 1500 mg∙L-1 to non-bearing trees significantly increased flowering and fruit yield the year following treatment. The combination of P-Ca with ETH had an additive effect on shoot growth and improved growth control compared to P-Ca alone. Two BA applications at 500 mg∙L-1 had no effect on lateral branching of young trees. / Chudleigh's Limited, MITACS Accelerate

No description available.

The use of seed-propagated bermudagrasses [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.], particularly for athletic fields, is rapidly increasing. Recently developed seeded cultivars have been bred for improved turfgrass quality (finer texture, darker green color, etc.) and for increased cold tolerance, but their ability to tolerate wear has not been investigated. This study was conducted to determine if three seeded cultivars could tolerate simulated athletic wear as well as one vegetative cultivar commonly used in Kentucky. The seeded cultivars, Riviera, Princess 77 and Yukon were planted at 24.4 and 48.8 kg PLS ha-1 and the vegetative cultivar Quickstand was sprigged at 1250 and 2500 bu ha-1 in the second week of June. Beginning at the end of August each year (in conjunction with the Kentucky high school football season), simulated wear treatments equivalent to either three, two, one or zero football games wk-1, using a Brinkman traffic simulator, were imposed. Plots were then evaluated for turfgrass quality (TQ) and percent turfgrass cover (PC) through mid-November. The possibility that precipitation amounts and timing may have been a factor is the large end of season PC means is also examined. Final PC means for each season under the highest wear treatment were mixed with Princess 77 having a statistically greater mean (Pandlt;0.0001) of 42% than any other cultivar in 2002, where the 2003 results showed Riviera to have the statistically higher (Pandlt;0.0001) mean (71%) over the other cultivars. TQ ratings were inconsistent when used as a measure of wear tolerance. Stolon fresh weights were also measured between the cultivars as an examination of morphological characteristics that could be associated with wear tolerance, but were not statistically correlated (Pandgt;0.05) to a given cultivars wear tolerance ability.

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-85).

Thesis (M. A.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Ill., 1997. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-114).