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Genome constitution and evolution of Elytrigia lolioides inferred from Acc1, EF-G, ITS, TrnL-F sequences and GISH
Get PDFPublished versionBackground: Elytrigia lolioides (Kar. et Kir.) Nevski, which is a perennial, cross-pollinating wheatgrass that is distributed in Russia and Kazakhstan, is classified into Elytrigia, Elymus, and Lophopyrum genera by taxonomists on the basis of different taxonomic classification systems. However, the genomic constitution of E. lolioides is still unknown. To identify the genome constitution and evolution of E. lolioides, we used single-copy nuclear genes acetyl-CoA carboxylase (Acc1) and elongation factor G (EF-G), multi-copy nuclear gene internal transcribed space (ITS), chloroplast gene trnL-F together with fluorescence and genomic in situ hybridization.
Results: Despite the widespread homogenization of ITS sequences, two distinct lineages (genera Pseudoroegneria and Hordeum) were identified. Acc1 and EF-G sequences suggested that in addition to Pseudoroegneria and Hordeum, unknown genome was the third potential donor of E. lolioides. Data from chloroplast DNA showed that Pseudoroegneria is the maternal donor of E. lolioides. Data from specific FISH marker for St genome indicated that E. lolioides has two sets of St genomes. Both genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) results confirmed the presence of Hordeum genome in this species. When E genome was used as the probe, no signal was found in 42 chromosomes. The E-like copy of Acc1 sequences was detected in E. lolioides possibly due to the introgression from E genome species. One of the H chromosomes in the accession W6-26586 from Kazakhstan did not hybridize H genome signals but had St genome signals on the pericentromeric regions in the two-color GISH.
Conclusions: Phylogenetic and in situ hybridization indicated the presence of two sets of Pseudoroegneria and one set of Hordeum genome in E. lolioides. The genome formula of E. lolioides was designed as StStStStHH. E. lolioides may have originated through the hybridization between tetraploid Elymus (StH) and diploid Pseudoroegneria species. E and unknown genomes may participate in the speciation of E. lolioides through introgression. According to the genome classification system, E. lolioides should be transferred into Elymus L. and renamed as Elymus lolioidus (Kar. er Kir.) Meld
Community-based responses to climate hazards: typology and global analysis
Get PDFPublished versionThe severity and frequency of climate change hazards are increasing around the world.
Because the impacts are most acutely felt in local communities, it is critical to improve
understanding of the response options that are available for and being chosen by
communities. We conducted a mixed methods analysis of case studies reporting
community-based responses to climate change hazards. Based on content analysis of
published case studies, we generated an emergent evidence-based typology of such
responses according to their nature and goals. Using this typology, we quantitatively
analysed more than 1500 response examples and determined the patterns with which
community-level climate change adaptation and disaster mitigation strategies vary across
world regions and across economic and governance conditions. Specifically, diversity of
responses is lower in developing countries, and implementation of local-level policy and
planning responses is less frequent in countries characterized by low governance quality. Our results confirm that, although there is much that local communities can do to
respond to the challenges of climate change, there is also a need for increased support
of local activities. By synthesizing data from many local studies, our research provides a
first global evidence base for local-level climate change adaptation policy
Ethical leadership
Get PDF61 leaves : illustrations ; 29 cmIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-52).Given the emergence of unethical leaders in both the civilian and military sectors over the years, it is imperative that research investigate the nature of ethical leadership behaviour. This study contributes to research on exploring the antecedents of ethical leadership behaviour, specifically the values of benevolence, universalism, achievement, and conformity, the values congruence of person-organization fit (P-O Fit), as well as the interaction between the aforementioned variables. Using a sample of military personnel, leaders matched with their followers, these relationships were evaluated. The sample was split into one-to-one ratio (1:1) for hierarchical moderated regression, and nested for multilevel modelling. Values and P-O Fit, both self-reported by leaders, were evaluated as predictors of ethical leadership behaviour, as rated by followers. The main effect of P-O Fit was found to be positively and significantly associated to ethical leadership behaviour. Leaders who self-report P-O Fit are rated favourably on their ethical leadership behaviour. Conformity (dual item) produced a significant interaction effect with P-O Fit. Simple slopes revealed that self-reported high P-O Fit improves the relationship between conformity and ethical leadership behaviour. Leaders who feel their values are congruent with those of the organization foster a synergistic environment across values of conformity. Followers are influenced by this congruence and behaviour which leads to favourable ratings of ethical leadership behaviour
Investigating population specific methods for Latin Americans : sex estimation using the calcaneus in Chilean and Mexican populations
Get PDFxii, 156 leaves : illustrations ; 29 cmIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-143).Latin American populations are often grouped together as one ancestry. Therefore, this research investigated population specificity for sex estimation using the calcaneus of contemporary adult Chilean and Mexican populations. The calcaneus was chosen as it is a bone with high resistance to taphonomic change. Ten variables were measured on Chilean (64 males and 66 females) and Mexican (92 males and 63 females) calcanei. After testing the two populations, no significant differences were found between the Chilean and Mexican samples so they were combined as the ‘Combined CM’ population to develop the
discriminant functions for sex estimation. Sex estimation classification accuracy rates ranged from 70.5% (univariate) to 86.3% (multivariate). The ‘Combined CM’ population was compared to other populations and, overall, showed that significant differences existed between populations. This has been attributed to stature, nutrition, psychological stress, and research design
Opportunity, perception, and privilege : community resources and upward mobility as perceived by Spryfield youth
Get PDF1 online resource (61 p.)Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-61).This research aims to understand the relationship between youth access to community resources in Spryfield and Spryfield youth’s perception of their chances of attaining upward socioeconomic mobility. The main research question I investigate is: how do Spryfield youth perceive the availability of community resources as contributors to their potential upward mobility? I also explore questions such as: what community resources are available to Spryfield youth? How do youth of different genders and ages perceive the availability of community resources in Spryfield? I use Pierre Bourdieu’s forms of capital and neighbourhood effect theory to assess the Moving to Opportunity experiment as it relates to Spryfield youth. Primary data from a focus group formed through convenience sampling is compared to results from the Moving to Opportunity study. From the focus group, three themes are developed: 1) neighbourhood effects on Spryfield youth, 2) Spryfield lacks community resources that specifically focus on mental and physical health, and 3) the results coming out of Pathways to Education Spryfield challenge the MTO experiment. This thesis argues that disadvantages in attaining upward mobility are more effectively challenged when community resources for youth are implemented within their communities and when neighbourhood effects are addressed. The findings in this research suggest that community resource implementation within socioeconomically disadvantaged communities may prevent gendered differences in impact from occurring, as was the case in the Moving to Opportunity experiment
The mineralogy, petrography, and paragenesis of the polymetallic (Co-Ni-As-Au) veins of the Nictaux Falls Dam occurrence, Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia
Get PDF1 online resource (98 pages) : colour illustrations, colour mapsIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (pages 65-68).Cobalt occurrences in Nova Scotia are poorly understood and their association with five elements vein deposits is unclear. The Nictaux Falls polymetallic (Co-Ni-Au-Ag-Bi) vein occurrence is hosted in the spillway of the Nova Scotia Power Dam found along the Nictaux River, Annapolis County. The sulfarsenide mineralized quartz veins crosscut the Silurian-aged Kentville Formation metasediments, near its contact the Devono-Carboniferous South Mountain Batholith. Two main zones are identified, hosting two styles of mineralization: laminated sulfarsenide-quartz veins (MZ1) and quartz breccia veins containing sulfarsenide-mineralized wall rock clasts (MZ2). The laminated MZ1 veins are heterogeneous with euhedral sulfarsenides and coxcomb quartz occurring on opposite sides of the vein. Wall rock MZ2 clasts contain late net-texture sulfarsenides and quartz. Petrographic work identified a spatial relationship between sulfarsenides and wall rock gangue minerals (chlorite, biotite, rutile) in both styles. Both styles are characterized by early interstitial chlorite, biotite, and rutile, followed by rounded sulfide inclusions, and surrounded by compositionally zoned sulfarsenide (arsenopyrite, mantled by a secondary arsenopyrite, Fe-rich cobaltite, and Fe-Co-rich gersdorffite). Textural evidence using Micro-XRF imaging suggests the unidirectional zoning is a product of Rayleigh fractionation or a decrease in pH. Mafic intrusions present in the spillway and host metasediments were evaluated as potential metal sources. SEM-EDS analyses and S-isotope work tentatively suggest the metasediments are the most likely source of sulfur and metals for the NFDO. In situ SIMS work is required in order to identify possible event of fluid mixing between brines that equilibrated with the metasediments and marine brines of the Maritimes Basin. The NFDO comprises a unique mineral assemblage that could be an example of a five elements vein occurrence. Further studies of cobalt occurrences in the Meguma Terrane is required in order to understand cobalt metallogeny in Nova Scotia and possible five element vein occurrences in the province
Biological sex and auditory mismatch negativity
Get PDFxiii, 62 leaves : illustrations, chiefly colour ; 29 cmIncludes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-60).The mismatch negativity (MMN) is an EEG-derived event-related potential (ERP) elicited by any violation of a predicted auditory ‘rule’ and is thought to reflect updating of the stimulus context. In MMN research, sex differences have been largely underreported; the few studies that report sex-based analyses have largely focused on phonetic sounds with emotional valence, while pure-tone stimuli have not yielded any significant results. This study investigated whether sex differences could be detected in a healthy population using a 5-deviant “optimal” multi-feature paradigm (Näätanen, 2004; Experiment 1) and a complex ‘missing stimulus’ pattern paradigm (Salisbury, 2012; Experiment 2). The only significant difference observed was that males were found to have enhanced left-frontal MMN amplitudes compared to females when presented with the location deviant of the optimal paradigm. These results suggest that the auditory MMN may be more characterized by sex similarities
Volunteer tourism as profit frontier : the case of Fathom cruises in the Dominican Republic
Get PDFvi, 133 leaves : colour map ; 29 cmIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-133).Volunteer tourism is a market driven approach to development. Volunteer tourism was developed to serve travelers who want to practice meaningful experiences within host countries. Carnival Cruise lines created fathom (sic) as a venture to capture this target audience with impact activities as excursions in and around Puerto Plata Dominican Republic. These activities involve utilizing tourist labour to achieve positive ‘impacts’ on the lives of Dominicans. Exploring the perspectives of both cruise representatives, partner organizations representatives and tourists, it was determined that volunteer tourism is a preferred model of development due to lack of political interference and the sustainability of profit for project organizers. However, long-term sustainability of volunteer tourism as a development model is dependent on volatile tourism market forces, staged experiences, cultural imperialism and new profit opportunities through the commodification of poverty
One size does not fit all : a multilevel exploration of job demands and stress experiences mediated by basic psychological needs and double-moderated by job resources
Get PDFvi, 139 leaves : illustrations (some colour) ; 29 cmIncludes abstract and appendices.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-112).This study aims to explore the link between stressors and strain at work by examining individuals’ experiences of stressors over time. The link between stressors and strain was evaluated with the job demands-resources model. Why people experience the stressor-strain phenomenon was evaluated with self-determinism theory; specifically, satisfaction of basic psychological needs. These needs were examined as a mediator, whose fulfillment was predicted to result in lower strain. That is, it is not necessarily job demands that give rise to strain, but the lack of satisfaction of basic psychological needs. An explanation of why individuals experience stress differently was examined through a dynamic model utilizing multiple time-points and double-moderation. Resources were hypothesized to attenuate the negative relationship of demands on basic psychological needs satisfaction and the negative relationship of basic psychological needs satisfaction on strain outcomes. This model was tested between- as well as within-persons with a weekly 5-week diary study with multiple study groups. The result of this novel approach to examining the relationship of basic psychological needs satisfaction within the job demands-resources model suggest that not all stress is equal. The model was supported in one organization but not the other. Resources played a vital role in satisfying basic psychological needs, and thereby, reducing strain outcomes, particularly at the individual level. Basic psychological needs satisfaction was found to be a mediator with one study group, potentially explaining why individuals feel stressed. Overall, this research demonstrates that it is important to examine stress both across individuals but also compared to the individual’s own baseline. Implications and future research suggestions for individualized interventions are provided to help reduce the impact of workplace stress and provide practical solutions on how to satisfy employee’s basic psychological needs
Genetic diversity of the DREB1 gene in Hordeum vulgare and Hordeum spontaneum
Get PDF1 online resource (47 p.) : illustrations (some colour)Includes abstract and appendix.Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-39).Environmental stresses often disrupt and alter the growth of plants and their life cycles. This causes molecular responses to upregulate gene expression, inducing important stress responsive genes. Dispersal and continuous domestication of crop plants may cause a loss of genetic diversity that may be detrimental to these stress responsive genes. A population-based resequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the dehydration responsive element binding 1 (DREB1) stress responsive gene was used to determine its genetic diversity in three populations of wild and cultivated barley. Variation between China wild, China cultivated, and Middle Eastern wild populations were examined to understand gene-pool exchanges with the spread and development of barley cultivation. My results showed genetic differentiation among and within the three populations of barley by examination of nucleotide diversity (π), theta (per site) (θ), and number of haplotypes. Middle East wild-type and China wild-type were statistically significant with Fu and Li’s D and F tests however, China cultivated-type was not. It was found that the highest diversity occurred in Middle Eastern wild-type, with the second highest diversity value as China wild-type, and lowest diversity in China cultivated type. These results provide important observations about the domestication processes of crop plants like barley where selection processes may be detrimental to the survival of stress responsive genes.
After this thesis was completed, some questions arose about sequence clarity and reliability, and how they affected alignment and phylogenetic analysis. These questions were analysed at the end of this thesis in an addendum (page 40)