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Salt stress response single genes expression in diploid and autopolyploid Hordeum bulbosum
Get PDF1 online resource (43 pages) : illustrations (chiefly colour)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 36-43).Soil salinity is a worldwide problem, which hinders the growth of crop yields and brings great challenges to the world. To deal with the reduction of agricultural land, research and cultivating the development of salt-tolerant crops are urgently needed. Autotetraploidy has played an important role in plant evolution and plant speciation. An autotetraploid wild grass species (Hordeum bulbosum) has advantages in high-salt environments. However, the function of single genes in autopolyploid for salt tolerance is poorly unknown. Physiological activities related to a single functional gene are important for the salt resistance in barley; the release of protective metabolites is promoted by the single function gene. The purpose of this study is to compare the difference in gene expression of single genes between diploid and autotetraploid wild barley. The diploid and autotetraploid wild barley that were used in this study were both incubated with saline and water before comparing their level of gene expression of single genes. The results showed that there is no consistent expression change for all target genes between diploid and autotetraploid, which indicated that polyploidization could result in the gene expression change, either increase or decrease based on each gene. Even if the use of polyploid crops to combat land salinization requires further research, the prospects of salt-tolerant crops are promising
Bluebirds, bombings, and battle : shell shock in Maritime nursing sisters of the first world war
Get PDF1 online resource (vii, 124 pages) : colour maps.Includes abstracts and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 108-114).While the majority of the Canadian nursing sisters who served during the First World
War returned home physically unscathed, very little has been said about those who
returned home who had suffered mentally over the course of their military service. With
origins in Victorian ideas on illness and gender, shell shock has long been associated with
war and masculinity. Nursing sisters too began showing symptoms of shell shock, just as
male soldiers did. Long periods of work with no rest and air raids were some of the major
contributing factors to the deterioration of their condition. While there was no hesitancy
in treating the nursing sisters who were struggling, very rarely were they ever explicitly
diagnosed with shell shock itself. Instead, they often received similar diagnoses, such as
nervous debility and neurasthenia, which were more in line with conventional ideas about
illness and gender
Regular languages, property satisfiability, and shortcuts
Get PDF1 online resource (45 pages) : illustrationsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 44-45).The Language Server (LaSer ) is a website created to ask and answer various questions pertaining to regular languages. One of its main features is testing property satisfiability, that is, does a given regular language satisfy a particular property. If a regular language does satisfy the property, we can then ask if the language is maximal with respect to the property. That is, L is maximal if it is not properly contained in any language satisfying the property. Deciding if a language is maximal reduces to deciding if a language is universal, which is known to be PSPACE-complete. However, for some practical purposes, we need only know if a language is approximately maximal. That is p%-maximal. Using a randomized algorithm, we can check if a language is as maximal as we want, by repeatedly adding words and testing whether the language still satisfies the property. This new property is called pseudo-maximality, and is much easier to test
Application of DEI and MEI indices to evaluate the effect of fragmentation in oak habitats on species diversity and soil chemical characteristics
No full textPublished versionIn order to introduce and application of DEI (Distance of Edge Influence) and MEI (Magnitude of Edge Influence) indices to determine the distance of edge effect and intensity of the edge effect on herbaceous species and soil chemical properties, Three forest fragments (under 10 hectares) from oak forests of Kermanshah province were selected with similar conditions in terms of slope, direction and altitude. In each fragment three transects were established from the edge to the forest interior. Measurements of vegetation and soil variables were collected at 0 (edge), 25, 50, 100, 150 m along each transect. The results showed that MEI index values were positive for soil variables (except nitrogen, organic carbon and pH). The values of this index were also positive for species richness, Shannon-Wiener diversity and Evenness. DEI index value was 25 m for soil variables except pH and 50 m for diversity indices. The influence of edge on species richness, Shannon-Wiener diversity and Evenness was significant. Soil variables (except phosphorus) did not show significant differences at different distances from edge. Also, changes in species richness and soil chemical properties were observed in 0-50 m from edge. Totally, in sparse oak forests, fragmentation and edge effect had influence on species richness and soil chemical properties
She just snapped! : rethinking mad, sad and bad discourses of women who kill
Get PDF1 online resource (vi, 122 pages)Includes abstractIncludes bibliographical references (pages 110-122).Women do not fit nicely into the category of violent offenders. Using Oxygen Network‘s flagship franchise series Snapped, I present a historical study of the first season of the show that
marks an important moment in criminological and True Crime TV history as it relates to the
conceptualisation of women who kill. I set out to answer the question "How does Snapped
challenge or reaffirm the dominant theories of women who kill?" I argue that there is an
alternative way to explain female killers other than the pejorative mainstream discourses of mad,
sad and bad. I use a thematic analysis to unravel themes and draw on Chris Weedon‘s feminist
post structuralism with specific focus on discourse and power as they relate to gender and
agency. My findings reveal that women who kill are not sad, but they can be however mad, bad,
and do possess agency
Cutting the threads of patchwork policy : the impact of decentralization on pandemic containment in Nova Scotia and British Columbia
Get PDF1 online resource (41 pages)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 37-41).This thesis explores the topic of Canadian federalism and decentralization in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Federalism has shaped Canadian healthcare and over time has led to discrepancies in health policy and administration in terms of the distribution of federal, provincial, and territorial powers, and the institutional design of healthcare that varies across jurisdictions. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has thrust public health to the forefront of policy at all levels, placing tension on Canada's already fragmented healthcare system. These tensions are analyzed further through a comparative case study of the provinces of Nova Scotia and British Columbia to demonstrate how the historic federal, provincial, territorial divide has impacted provincial containment of COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic (January 2020 - September 2020). A brief history of Canadian federalism is given in section one, followed by an assessment of the strict public health measures that are necessary to effectively contain the virus in section two, and lastly section three contains a case study of the provinces of Nova Scotia and British Columbia to analyze how these provinces were able to effectively manage the spread of the virus in the first wave. As their shared success began to diminish in the second wave of the pandemic, this thesis argues that a bottom-up, pan-Canadian health strategy could foster continued collaboration between the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, through the establishment of documented best practices to encourage the implementation of the public health measures needed to contain the virus. For it is in times like these; when entire healthcare systems across the country are called to action, that our "patchwork" model of healthcare governance manifests its true weakness and highlights the need for change
Analysis of functional ecological connectivity across selected landscapes in Prince Edward Island, Canada
Get PDF1 online resource (vii, 67 pages) : colour illustrations, colour mapsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 48-56).Habitat fragmentation and habitat loss are two of the largest threats to biodiversity in the modern age. Because of this, the study of how animals move between patches of fragmented habitats is crucial to being able to plan for the protection and conservation of species and habitats. I conducted a functional connectivity analysis of barriers to movement for three species with different movement types and habitat requirements- northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus), pickerel frog (Lithobates palustris), and smooth green snake (Opheodrys vernalis) - in four different regions across the eastern Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, which has seen a significant reduction in natural areas since the 19th century. Resistance maps were created for each species using critical habitat components and the open-source toolbox Linkage Mapper was used to find the least-cost paths, barriers, and pinchpoints between core habitat areas in each region. I used the Linkage Pathways tool to find least-cost pathways between core habitat areas, Barrier Mapper tool to find areas where restoration could occur, and Pinchpoint Mapper tool to locate where movement could occur between core habitat areas outside of the least-cost path. I also compared this functional connectivity analysis to previous structural methods used on the island. I found that the cost-weighted distance and effective resistance for movement for the species varied by study region, and that O. vernalis was the least aligned with structural connectivity flow outputs. This analysis can assist landscape planners and environmental managers in making future conservation decision
Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of three song parameters in an Atlantic Canadian population of European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris and whether they signal age
Get PDF1 online resource (viii, 102 pages) : charts, graphsIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 13-17, 72-77, 95-97, 101-102)Females from a range of taxa prefer to mate with older males as they may gain direct and/or indirect
benefits that younger males are unable to provide. Male birds commonly sing to attract mates and
older males are able to convey their superiority through song. European Starlings, Sturnus vulgaris,
are a well-studied open-ended learner. Starling song has within-song type variations which are not
well studied, and its function in Starlings is unknown. Repertoire size, within-song type variation
and song bout length, as they relate to male age, were examined in an eastern Canadian population
of Starlings. Surprisingly, repertoire size and song bout length did not increase with age in our
analyses. However, younger males had more within-song type variation. These findings suggest
that male repertoire and bout length do not signal age within my study population while within song type variants may signal age, playing a potential role in mate attraction
Molecular aging of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis)
Get PDF1 online resource (57 pages) : illustrations (some colour)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (pages 52-57).Knowing the age of individuals within a population provides a wealth of information that is important for understanding aspects of their biology, including many aspects that are important for conservation. Some of these include the relative rates of birth, survival, immigration, and emigration for each age class. This gives useful information for estimating trends over time and estimating extinction probabilities. Cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) are challenging to study because they spend the vast majority of their lives below the surface of the water and their habitats are widespread across oceans. Current methods for estimating age in baleen whales are limited. Recent studies have found that methylation patterns associated with certain genes change consistently over time, and therefore provide a "molecular clock" that can be used to estimate the age of individuals. This study investigated whether the age related methylation patterns exist at CpG sites in the GRIA2, KLF14, and TET2 genes in North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis). Specifically, methylation patterns were examined for 40 known-age individuals, representing males and females from throughout the spectrum of known ages, to understand the relationship between CpG methylation and age at these age-related CpG sites. The results showed that the levels of methylation at these sites correspond with the age of the individuals, but that methylation patterns were also influenced by how long the tissue samples were in storage. Therefore, this approach can be used to molecularly estimate age in North Atlantic right whales, but the age of the samples must also be taken into account. Future studies should investigate how methylation patterns degrade and what storage solutions are best to prevent degradation
The spread of earthworm cocoons by vehicular traffic on unpaved roads
Get PDF1 online resource (41 pages) : colour illustrationsIncludes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (pages 28-37).The introduction and spread of non-native species have been heavily influenced by human activities, resulting in the distribution and accelerated spread of species worldwide. Earthworms are largely non-native in Canada and their presence, particularly in forested ecosystems, can cause substantial consequences as they are able to substantially alter the soil conditions. Earthworms and earthworm cocoons are easily distributed unknowingly along with soil, and earthworm populations have been found to be more concentrated in areas of frequent human use. Not much is known about how exactly human movements are able to distribute earthworms and earthworm cocoons, so more knowledge in this area would be useful. This study aimed to find out how earthworm cocoons are spread by vehicle traffic on unpaved roads, as well as some of the factors which influence this spread. I looked at how differences in cocoon size, represented by different sizes of plastic beads, wet and dry weather conditions, and two different vehicle types, a car and an all-terrain vehicle, affected the distance the beads were able to spread. Five replicate trials were completed for each unique combination, resulting in eighty trials in total. It was hypothesized that smaller beads and wet weather conditions would cause the beads to travel farthest, and that distance travelled would be unaffected by vehicle type. The results did not support my hypothesis and showed that larger beads were more likely to be moved and moved farther than the smallest bead size and this was most likely to happen under dry conditions. Vehicle type as predicted did not have a significant effect. These results suggest that earthworm cocoons can easily travel along roads as vehicles drive on them, which is important in predicting their rates of spread, although more research would be valuable in this area to obtain more accurate results