116 research outputs found
EVALUATION OF FIELD GROWN GRAPEVINE GRAFTS FOR DROUGHT TOLERANCE UNDER WATER DEFICIT IRRIGATION IN THE ARID REGIONS OF UAE
No full textGrapevines, among the most commercially significant fruit crops, are valued for their use in table grapes, raisins, and winemaking but are highly vulnerable to abiotic stresses such as drought, heat, and salinity. This study investigated the morphological, physiological, biochemical, and transcriptomic responses of grafted grapevines to drought stress, emphasizing rootstock-scion interactions. Grafting experiments were conducted with three rootstocks (Ramsey, RU140, and Paulsen) and table grape varieties (Thomson Seedless, Crimson Seedless, and Flame Seedless), with five combinations as Flame seedless × Ramsey (V1), Thompson seedless × Ramsey (V2), Crimson seedless × R110 (V3), Crimson seedless × Ramsey (V4) and Thompson seedless × P1103 (V5) under irrigation regimes of 100%, 75%, and 50% field capacity to simulate moisture stress. Results demonstrated the pivotal role of amino acids, including proline, cysteine, and arginine, in drought stress tolerance. Although several amino acids contribute to stress tolerance, cysteine and arginine play crucial roles with an increase in V2, V3, and V5 grafts, the former concomitant with downregulation of the chlorophyllase gene restricting chlorophyll pigment degradation, corresponds with increased nitrogen uptake while the latter as precursor amino acid involved in direct pathway for polyamine biosynthesis found in grafts are involved in various metabolic processes with anti-senescence and anti-stress effects by maintaining the integrity of the plasma membrane system. Phenylalanine was associated with enhanced photosynthetic activity through increased nitrogen and magnesium uptake, while glutamate, derived from nitrogen metabolism, supported stress tolerance in specific graft combinations. The antioxidant defense system, particularly the activities of CAT, SOD, and APX enzymes, effectively scavenged reactive oxygen species, maintaining redox balance and cellular water status. Hormonal dynamics, especially the interaction between ABA and GA3, revealed distinct antagonistic behavior, with cytokinin levels modulated by rootstock performance under soil moisture stress. Elevated glucose, glycine betaine, and macro and micronutrient accumulation further supported the physiological adjustments to deficit irrigation. Physiological traits such as net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration efficiency indicated enhanced water-use efficiency in specific grafts, particularly under 50% field capacity, correlating with increased biomass production. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the role of mineral elements, including calcium, in extracellular matrix formation, stomatal behavior, and trichome development under drought stress. Proline, arginine metabolism, and H₂O₂ detoxification are the main topics of this study\u27s transcriptome and metabolic analyses of Thompson Seedless * Ramsey grafted grapevines under drought stress. AREB1, AREB2, and NAC transcription factors were significantly upregulated, according to RNA sequencing, which encouraged proline buildup. Nitrogen recycling was supported by increased expression of ornithine aminotransferase (OAT), which connected proline production to arginine metabolism. Increased H₂O₂ levels improved ROS detoxification by activating antioxidant defences (SOD, POD, and CAT). Clear metabolic and transcriptomic changes were shown by the differential grouping of the stress and control samples, which was confirmed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). This comprehensive study validates the significant role of rootstock-scion interactions in modulating drought-responsive mechanisms in grapevines. The findings provide valuable insights into the development of stress-resilient grafting strategies, enabling sustainable viticulture in arid and water-scarce regions
Social Justice Must Be Action: Obligatory Duty and the Institutionalizing of Activism in Schools
No full textIn this paper, I present pieces from a larger qualitative study on social justice at one public high school in New York City. By examining how students reflect upon, respond to, and reclaim an advisory curriculum dedicated to civic responsibility and activism, I argue that schools may have inadvertently standardized the non-standard of "justice" by applying upon it the complicities of power/knowledge, authority, behavior, and control. I draw from an attempted juxtaposition of critical theory and poststructuralist thought, more specifically Foucault's concept of docility-utility, to then argue that the containment of justice as a teach-able and learn-able objective may inhibit students from seeing themselves as already engaged in the world, as just individuals, on their own terms and circumstances. A reconceptualization of social justice may require a shift away from "social justice-oriented content" towards greater acknowledgment of "just encounters" among students and teachers in schools.About the Author Debbie Sonu completed doctoral work at Teachers College, Columbia University and is working as an Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education at Hunter College in New York City. Her interests include ethics and justice in urban schools, critical theory and poststructuralism, as well as issues related to youth, subjectivity, and race. Debbie Sonu can be contacted at [email protected]
A comparative study of thermoelectric properties of CuGaTe2 by using PBE and MBJ potentials
No full textPublic health leadership “Transformation of dreams to reality”
No full textThis oration examines the multifaceted nature and skills of leadership in the field of public health from the eyes of public health practitioner. Through diverse examples from personal and professional experiences, the oration debunks common misconceptions surrounding leadership and underscores its capacity to motivate and steer individuals or groups towards a shared vision. It challenges the notion that leaders must possess all-encompassing knowledge, instead emphasizing the significance of traits such as courage, confidence, strategic thinking, and collaboration. Moreover, the oration also delves into the question of whether leadership is an innate quality or one that can be acquired through experience and training, recognizing that while some individuals exhibit inherent leadership qualities, others develop them over time. Throughout the article, the author shares his personal and professional journey in public health leadership, recounting formative experiences ranging from serving as a class representative to working in rural areas and marginalized communities. These encounters at various levels, encompassing departmental, institutional, national, and international, enabled the author to apply leadership attributes such as empathy, effective communication, teamwork, and change management to affect positive transformations in healthcare utilisation. The article summarises the fact that leadership is a continuous (not abstract) variable which is present in everyone, albeit, in different proportions and that, it can be acquired by persistence and perseverance
Medical experiments on humans in Kerstin Hensel's Lärchenau (2008)
No full textThis chapter considers the representation of the legacy of National Socialist eugenics and human experimentation in Kerstin Hensel’s novel Lärchenau (2008). Lärchenau chronicles a period of almost a century (1915–2007) in a small village in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg. The chapter draws on the work of Alexander and Margarete Mitscherlich in order to argue that Hensel’s characters enact sado-masochistic behaviour patterns which echo the medical crimes of the Third Reich. Hensel’s novel – in part, a tribute to Ingeborg Bachmann’s Das Buch Franza/The Book of Franza (1978/1995) – centres on the geneticist Gunter Konarske who conducts a series of medical experiments on his wife Adele. Although Konarske is born in 1944, his practices bear comparison to the human experiments carried out by Carl Clauberg in Auschwitz. Clauberg’s victims were unaware that they were experimental subjects, and, in Hensel’s novel, so too is Adele. Reading Lärchenau against the background of Nazi medical crimes requires us to reconsider the novel as a confrontation with history, showing how the present is rooted in the past. This perspective counteracts the prevailing tendency in Hensel criticism to pigeonhole her as a satirical and fantastical author.
Dieser Beitrag befasst sich mit der Darstellung nationalsozialistischer Programme der Eugenik und Menschenversuche bzw. deren Nachwirkungen in Kerstin Hensels Roman Lärchenau (2008). Lärchenau erzählt die Geschichte eines gleichnamigen Dorfes im Oder-Spree-Seengebiet Brandenburgs im Zeitraum von 1915 bis 2007. Auf Basis der Theorien von Alexander und Margarete Mitscherlich wird hier argumentiert, dass Hensels Figuren sadomasochistische Verhaltensweisen wiederholen, die den Formen der medizinischen Gewalt im Dritten Reich ähnlich sind. Hensels Roman ist zum Teil als Hommage an Ingeborg Bachmanns Das Buch Franza (1978/1995) zu verstehen. Im Zentrum von Lärchenau steht der Genetiker Gunter Konarske, der eine Reihe von Menschenversuchen an der eigenen Frau Adele durchführt. Obwohl Konarske erst im Jahre 1944 geboren wurde, lässt sich seine Praxis mit den Menschenversuchen vergleichen, die Carl Clauberg in Auschwitz durchführte. Claubergs Opfer wussten nicht, dass sie Versuchspersonen waren, und das gleiche gilt für Adele in Lärchenau. Die Betrachtung Lärchenaus aus der Sicht der nationalsozialistischen Medizinverbrechen bedeutet, dass man den Roman als kritische Auseinandersetzung mit der Vergangenheit verstehen soll, die die Wurzeln der Gegenwart in der Vergangenheit entdeckt. Diese Betrachtungsweise wirkt der Forschungstendenz entgegen, Hensel als Satirikerin und Fantasy-Autorin einzuordnen
Public health leadership “Transformation of Dreams to Reality”
No full textThis oration examines the multifaceted nature and skills of leadership in the field of public health from the eyes of public health practitioner. Through diverse examples from personal and professional experiences, the oration debunks common misconceptions surrounding leadership and underscores its capacity to motivate and steer individuals or groups towards a shared vision. It challenges the notion that leaders must possess all-encompassing knowledge, instead emphasizing the significance of traits such as courage, confidence, strategic thinking, and collaboration. Moreover, the oration also delves into the question of whether leadership is an innate quality or one that can be acquired through experience and training, recognizing that while some individuals exhibit inherent leadership qualities, others develop them over time. Throughout the article, the author shares his personal and professional journey in public health leadership, recounting formative experiences ranging from serving as a class representative to working in rural areas and marginalized communities. These encounters at various levels, encompassing departmental, institutional, national, and international, enabled the author to apply leadership attributes such as empathy, effective communication, teamwork, and change management to affect positive transformations in healthcare utilisation. The article summarises the fact that leadership is a continuous (not abstract) variable which is present in everyone, albeit, in different proportions and that, it can be acquired by persistence and perseverance.</p
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Accumulation of toxic elements in soil and date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) through fertilizer application
No full textDates are the staple food for Arabs as well as the major export crop in the Middle East. In this work, we analyzed the concentration of toxic elements in commonly used fertilizers and evaluated metal accumulation in soil and date palm. Different types of fertilizers randomly selected from fertilizer dealers in the UAE were investigated for their toxic metals. Soil and plant samples collected from continuously fertilized date plantations were analyzed. Sandy loam soil (0–30 cm) samples were collected from date palm plantations continuously fertilized for more than 10 years (11 samples) and unfertilized date palm plantations (11 samples). A significant increase in chromium (Cr) and cadmium (Cd) was observed in the leaves of the fertilized date palms, whereas, in date palm fruits, the concentration of copper (Cu) was higher. A distinct correlation was observed between the total and the available metal concentrations in the soil for Cd and Cu. The average concentrations of toxic metals, however, remained within the limits of those used worldwide. It is important to encourage manufacturers to indicate the concentrations of toxic elements on the fertilizer labels due to environmental and health implications. © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.12 month embargo; published online: 05 January 2021This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]
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