John Jacob Niles\u27s Settings of the Early Poetry of Thomas Merton in The Niles-Merton Songs , Opp. 171 and 172.

John Jacob Niles (1892-1980) is renowned as a composer and performer of music in the folk style of his native Appalachia. However, his body of work also includes forays into opera, oratorio, symphony, and art song. In fact, Niles\u27s final compositional endeavor was the setting of twenty-two poems by the poet and Trappist monk Thomas Merton (1915-1968), who resided at Our Lady of Gethsemani Monastery in Kentucky. The Niles-Merton Songs, Opp. 171-172 were composed between 1967 and 1970. This study focuses on text-music relations in seven settings of poems from Merton\u27s first two poetry publications, Thirty Poems (1944) and A Man in the Divided Sea (1946). They are The Messenger, The Nativity, and Evening from Op. 171, and For My Brother: Reported Missing in Action, 1943, The Greek Women, Cana, and The Ohio River--Louisville from Op. 172. These songs are examined with regard to Niles\u27s use of melody, harmony, text painting, text alteration, dynamics, rhythm, tempo, range, motivic repetition, and accompaniment to express the texts. Conclusions from this study include: (1) Niles constructed these songs in conformity to the formal divisions of Merton\u27s text. The shapes and rhythms of the phrases preserve the natural flow of Merton\u27s poems as they would be spoken; (2) minor text alterations were made only when Niles thought the music could thus be made more beautiful; (3) while examples of text painting are found in each of the songs studied, Niles placed more importance upon a subtler musical elicitation of the moods and images of the text, in which the piano plays a key role; (4) there are repeated motivic patterns that recur throughout the songs of both sets, but they perform no unifying cyclic function; and (5) the influence of Niles\u27s friend and colleague, Charles Ives, is evident in Niles\u27s harmonic treatment. Niles\u27s folk background is reflected in the modal harmonies, broken chord accompaniments, and syllabic text setting of these songs

Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) Underlying Protein, Oil, and Five Major Fatty Acids’ Contents in Soybean

Improved seed composition in soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] for protein and oil quality is one of the major goals of soybean breeders. A group of genes that act as quantitative traits with their effects can alter protein, oil, palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids percentage in soybean seeds. The objective of this study was to identify Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) controlling protein, oil, and fatty acids content in a set of F5:8 RILs de-rived from a cross between lines, ‘MD 96-5722’ and ‘Spencer’ using 5376 Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) markers from the Illumina Infinium SoySNP6K BeadChip array. QTL analysis used WinQTL Cart 2.5 software for composite interval mapping (CIM). Identified, were; one protein content QTL on linkage group (LG-) B2 or chromosome (Chr_) 14; 11 QTL associated with oil content on six linkage groups LG-N (Chr_3), LG-A1 (Chr_5), LG-K (Chr_9), LG-F (Chr_13), LG-B2 (Chr_14), and LG-J (Chr_16); and sixteen QTL for five major fatty acids (palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids) on LG-N (Chr_3), LG-F (Chr_13), LG-B2 (Chr_14), LG-E (Chr_15), LG-J (Chr_16), and LG-G (Chr_18). The SNP markers closely linked to the QTL reported here will be useful for development of cultivars with altered oil and fatty acid compositions in soybean breeding programs

Maternal High Fat Diet Is Associated with Decreased Plasma n–3 Fatty Acids and Fetal Hepatic Apoptosis in Nonhuman Primates

To begin to understand the contributions of maternal obesity and over-nutrition to human development and the early origins of obesity, we utilized a non-human primate model to investigate the effects of maternal high-fat feeding and obesity on breast milk, maternal and fetal plasma fatty acid composition and fetal hepatic development. While the high-fat diet (HFD) contained equivalent levels of n-3 fatty acids (FA's) and higher levels of n-6 FA's than the control diet (CTR), we found significant decreases in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and total n-3 FA's in HFD maternal and fetal plasma. Furthermore, the HFD fetal plasma n-6∶n-3 ratio was elevated and was significantly correlated to the maternal plasma n-6∶n-3 ratio and maternal hyperinsulinemia. Hepatic apoptosis was also increased in the HFD fetal liver. Switching HFD females to a CTR diet during a subsequent pregnancy normalized fetal DHA, n-3 FA's and fetal hepatic apoptosis to CTR levels. Breast milk from HFD dams contained lower levels of eicosopentanoic acid (EPA) and DHA and lower levels of total protein than CTR breast milk. This study links chronic maternal consumption of a HFD with fetal hepatic apoptosis and suggests that a potentially pathological maternal fatty acid milieu is replicated in the developing fetal circulation in the nonhuman primate

Variation in yield components and seed protein, oil, and fatty acid content in the MD 96-5722 by `Spencer\u27 recombinant inbred line (RIL) population of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]

Agronomic Characters such as grain yield, seed protein, oil, and fatty acid content are important indicators of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) yield and seed quality. The objective of this research was to study the variation of seed yield, protein, oil, and fatty acid content in 92 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from the cross of the two elite soybean cultivars, MD 96-5722 and `Spencer\u27 (n=94). Mean values and coefficient of variation were calculated for seed yield, plant height (cm), number of pods, seed, seed weight (g) per plant, and 100 seed weight (g). The results showed that plant height and 100 seed weight had the lowest variability with CV% of 23.12 and 17.61, respectively. The highest variability was found for the number of seeds per plant (CV% 45.25). The distributions of these agronomic characters were consistent with previous findings. The distribution of protein, oil and five major fatty acids were standard. Both the skewness and kurtosis values for these traits were \u3c1.00. Variations among RILs were narrow for protein (CV=3.57%) and oil (4.74%) but wide for the fatty acids. A notable wide variation was observed for oleic acid (12.77%) and linolenic acid (15.88%). This study sheds light on the complex nature of these agronomic characters and future studies are needed to understand their genetic inheritance and to develop improved soybean lines.

Transient heat stress compromises the resistance of wheat (Poales: Poaceae) seedlings to Hessian fly (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) infestation

Heat stress exerts a profound impact on the resistance of plants to parasites. In this research, we investigated the impact of an acute transient heat stress on the resistance of the wheat line ‘Molly,’ which contains the R gene H13, to an avirulent Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor (Say)) population. We found that a significant portion of Molly seedlings stressed at 40°C for 6 h during or after the initial Hessian fly larval attack became susceptible to otherwise avirulent insects, whereas unstressed control plants remained 100% resistant. Specifically, 77.8,73.3,83.3, and 46.7% of plants heat stressed at 0,6,12, and 24 h, respectively, after the initial larval attack became susceptible. Biochemical analysis revealed that heat stress caused a transient decrease in 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid, but an increase in salicylic acid accumulation in Molly plants. The change in phytohormones after heat stress and Hessian fly infestation was not observed in ‘Newton,’ a near-isogenic but Hessian fly susceptible wheat line. Instead, heat stress caused a relatively prolonged reduction in palmitoleic acid. The role of phytohormones in heat-induced loss of wheat resistance was discussed

Identification of Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) Underlying Protein, Oil, and Five Major Fatty Acids’ Contents in Soybean

A parceria público-privada (PPP) é um formato diferenciado de concessão que ampliou o conjunto de possibilidades de estruturação das parcerias entre os setores público e privado para a prestação de serviços públicos. Neste artigo, descrevem-se as principais características da PPP patrocinada e analisa-se em que circunstâncias a adoção da modalidade pode trazer vantagens e benefícios para a administração pública, para os usuários dos serviços públicos concedidos e para a sociedade em geral.PPP is a specific form of public-private partnership under the Brazilian Law. The designation applies to a particular risk-sharing arrangement between the public sector and the private entrepreneur, specially fit for investments and operation of infrastructure services. This article analyses PPP’s main features and evaluates how and to which extent this form of arrangement can bring benefits either for the public sector, for the direct users of the service, and for the society as a whole.Bibliografia: p. 8