1,178 research outputs found
Environmental variables affect fungal diversity on blueberry (Vaccinium spp.) leaf surfaces:
No full textThe economically important blueberry, Vaccinium cyanococcus, is susceptible to a number of diseases, some of which are propagated by fungi living on the leaf surface. The leaf surface (phylloplane) is a cryptic environment that harbors a variety of pathogens and pathogen antagonists, and these populations are affected by many factors including weather, season, host plant location and leaf phenology. Blueberry leaves were collected in April, June, August, and October over two years from bushes in wild areas and cultivated farms along transects perpendicular to the Atlantic City Expressway, to address the hypothesis that pollution from a major highway would influence phylloplane communities. Leaves were washed and plated on potato dextrose agar, and fungal epiphytes were identified using taxonomic keys and microscopy. Epicoccum spp., Alternaria spp., Pennicilium spp., and Curvularia spp. were the most ubiquitous fungi isolated from blueberry leaves. Community structure and species richness changed from site-to-site and month-to-month and from year-to-year. The influence of highway proximity to fungal communities was not significant. Management practices in cultivated sites accounted for much of the variation in species richness and community composition among sites. Leaf age also influenced the community structure of phylloplane fungi communities. Leaves collected in April had significantly lower species richness than those collect in later months (F=19.37, P<0.0001). Yearly differences in species richness and community structure were likely due to differences in meteorological variables. Greater information provided by frequency of occurrence of fungal species would lead to a more informative multivariate analysis as presence or absence would be weighted by abundance, allowing for interpretations of dominance and more detailed analysis of phylloplane fungal communities.M.S.Includes bibliographical references (p. 25-27)by Jason Stanwoo
Multi-attribute tradespace exploration and its application to evolutionary acquisition
No full textThesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2003.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (p. 144).by Jason Edward Derleth.S.M
The Antimicrobial Resistance–Water–Corporate Interface: Exploring the Connections Between Antimicrobials, Water, and Pollution
No full textAntibiotic resistance is a public health emergency, with ten million deaths estimated annually by the year 2050. Water systems are an important medium for the development and dissemination of antibiotic resistance from a variety of sources, explored in this perspective review. Hospital wastewater and wastewater systems more broadly are breeding grounds for antibiotic resistance because of the nature of their waste and how it is processed. Corporations from various sectors contribute to antibiotic resistance in many direct and indirect ways. Pharmaceutical factory runoff, agricultural antibiotic use, agricultural use of nitrogen fertilizers, heavy metal pollution, air pollution (atmospheric deposition, burning of oil and/or fossil fuels), plastic/microplastic pollution, and oil/petroleum spills/pollution have all been demonstrated to contribute to antibiotic resistance. Mitigation strategies to reduce these pathways to antibiotic resistance are discussed and future directions hypothesized
Climate change and antibiotic resistance: a deadly combination
No full textClimate change is driven primarily by humanity’s use of fossil fuels and the resultant greenhouse gases from their combustion. The effects of climate change on human health are myriad and becomingly increasingly severe as the pace of climate change accelerates. One relatively underreported intersection between health and climate change is that of infections, particularly antibiotic-resistant infections. In this perspective review, the aspects of climate change that have already, will, and could possibly impact the proliferation and dissemination of antibiotic resistance are discussed
The number of degree sequences of graphs
No full textThesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mathematics, 2007.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-62).We give nontrivial upper and lower bounds for the total number of distinct degree sequences among all simple, unlabeled graphs on n vertices (graphical partitions on n vertices). Our upper bound is ... for some constant C, and improvement of ... over the trivial upper bound which is asymptotic to ... Our lower bound is ..., and improvement of ... over the trivial lower bound which is asymptotic to ...by Jason Matthew Burns.Ph.D
Four days of blueberry powder supplementation lowers the blood lactate response to running but has no effect on time-trial
No full textBlueberries are abundant with anthocyanins possessing antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. As these properties combat fatigue and promote recovery, blueberry supplementation may enhance performance and recovery. Thus, the objectives were to examine the effects of two blueberry supplementation protocols on running performance, physiological responses, and shortterm recovery. Using a randomized, double-blind, placebo (PLA)-controlled crossover design, 14 runners completed an 8-km time trial (TT) after supplementation with 4 days of blueberries (4DAY), 4 days of a PLA, or 2 days of placebo followed by 2 days of blueberries (2DAY). Heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion were monitored during the TT. Blood lactate, vertical jump, reactive strength index, and salivary markers were assessed before and after. No significant differences were observed for time to complete the TT (PLA: 3,010 ± 459 s; 2DAY: 3,014 ± 488 s; 4DAY: 3,011 ± 423 s), heart rate, ratings of perceived exertion, or any of the salivary markers. An interaction effect (p = .027) was observed for blood lactate, with lower post-TT concentrations in 4DAY (5.4 ± 2.0 mmol/L) than PLA (6.6 ± 2.5 mmol/L; p = .038) and 2DAY (7.4 ± 3.4 mmol/L; p = .034). Post-TT decreases in vertical jump height were not different, whereas the decline in reactive strength index was less following 4DAY (-6.1% ± 13.5%) than the other conditions (PLA: -12.6% ± 10.1%; 2DAY: -11.6% ± 11.5%; p = .038). Two days of supplementation did not influence performance or physiological stress. Although 4 days of supplementation did not alter performance, it blunted the increase in blood lactate, perhaps reflecting altered lactate production and/or clearance, and offset the decrease in dynamic muscle function post-TT, as indicated by the reactive strength index differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]Peer reviewedFinal article published.time trialpolyphenolexercise performanceanthocyani
Book Review: The Military Legacy of Alexander the Great: Lessons for the Information Age
No full textAuthor: Michael P. Ferguson and Ian Worthington
Reviewed by Jason W. Warren, PhD
The Military Legacy of Alexander the Great: Lessons for the Information Age focuses on three themes—inspirational physical presence, Alexander’s army’s professionalism, and the speed with which he campaigned. The reviewer notes there are many useful observations, overall, he sees the book as a “mixed bag.” For those newer to studies “on Alexander or lessons-learned methodology, Legacy may prove a useful primer.”https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/1091/thumbnail.jp
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol
No full text20192020-01-01T00:00:00ZKL2 TR002346/TR/NCATS NIH HHSUnited States/U54 CK000609/CK/NCEZID CDC HHSUnited States/UL1 TR002345/TR/NCATS NIH HHSUnited States/30463634PMC66025281170
Canine immune-mediated polyarthritis: clinical and laboratory findings in 83 cases in western Canada (1991-2001).
No full textA hospital-based, case-control study was used to describe clinical and laboratory findings in 83 dogs diagnosed with noninfectious, nonerosive, immune-mediated polyarthritis (IMPA) in western Canada. Case medical records were reviewed. Cases were analyzed as total IMPA cases and as subgroups [breed, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), reactive, and idiopathic] and compared with the general canine hospital population. Dogs with IMPA differed in age (P = 0.004) and weight (P = 0.01) from other hospital admissions. Idiopathic IMPA cases were older (4-10 y; P < 0.05), compared with the general canine hospital population, and their common laboratory abnormalities included the following: leukocytosis, nonregenerative anemia, increased alkaline phosphatase, and hypoalbuminemia. The SLE cases were seen more often in summer and fall (P = 0.04), raising concern of an undiagnosed etiologic agent. The hock joint appeared to be the most reliable for diagnosis of IMPA, and arthrocentesis of both hock joints may aid in case identification.journal article2008 Decimporte
Applying linguistics in the conservation of the social and cultural context of underdocumented languages
No full textTo describe the grammar of a language is a difficult task. It requires specialized training in several formal subfields of linguistics. The type of resulting documents on specific languages are valuable for a number of reasons. For example, they are often used in language conservation to build teaching materials for a language, and can facilitate research into the social and cultural context of the language. Within the field of language documentation, the roles of producing language pedagogy materials and describing language in its social and cultural context have been recognized (Franchetto 2006, Hill 2006), but, the goal of fields like linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics, that is, to understand the internal dynamics of social organization, hence to some degree applied linguistics also, is missed by the bulk of grammatical description and language documentation due to the tacit and widespread assumption that language is componential. Indeed language can be seen as componential, but this view is inherently too limited to be reconciled with understanding language as culture. Therefore, the primary challenge is to integrate the available methods and techniques from the relevant fields to unveil and portray linguistic phenomena accurately in the practice of describing a language as a socioculturally embedded phenomenon and to make those materials relevant to teaching the language.
The research presented in the four sections of this talk compare the componential grammar model (e.g., Author 2014, Thieberger 200X) and the ethnography of communication/interactional model (Duranti 2009) and how they pair up with traditional language pedagogy (Kramsch 2002) and ethnologically informed modes of transmitting knowledge (Philips 1970, Wilson 2012), in an effort to identify specific ways to combine the best of the available models. Section 1 reviews the pros and cons of the traditional descriptive approach and the socio-culturally informed approach. Section 2 outlines the crucial role of social and cultural relevance in, not only, how languages are taught and maintained, but also what material constitutes the curriculum. Section 3 examines the nearly inevitable role of multi-lingualism in language conservation. Section 4 makes recommendations about how to expand the theoretical and analytic horizons of language documentation and applied linguistics to center on a view of language that is more than grammar and an interest in speakers as merely organisms that produce linguistic forms.
References:
Author. 2014. A Grammar of X.
Duranti, Alessandro (ed.). 2009. Linguistic Anthropology: A Reader. Second edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
Franchetto, Bruna. 2006. Ethnography in language documentation. In Jost Gippert, Nikolaus P. Himmelmann, and Ulrike Mosel Essentials of Language Documentation, 113–128. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Hill, Jane. 2006. The ethnography of language and language documentation. In Jost Gippert, Nikolaus P. Himmelmann, and Ulrike Mosel Essentials of Language Documentation, 183–212. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Kramsch, Claire (ed.). 2002. Language Acquisition and Language Socialization: Ecological Perspectives. New York: Continuum.
Philips, Susan U. 1970. Participant structures and Communicative Competence: Warm
Springs Children in Community and Classroom. In J. E. Alatis (ed.) Bilingualism and Language Contact: Anthropological, Linguistics, Psychological and Social Aspects _ Acquisition of Rules for Appropriate Speech Usage. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.
Thieberger, Nicholas. 2004. Topics in the grammar and documentation of South Efate, an Oceanic language of Central Vanuatu. PhD diss., Melbourne: Department of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, University of Melbourne.
Wilson, William H. 2012. Hawaiian language revitalization. In Language in Hawai‘i
and the Pacific. University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Linguistics 100 Course Reader, ed. by Hiroko Sato and Jake Terrell, 118–29. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i
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