Niina-ohra

VokKirjasto Aj-

African American female students' voices : their social experiences and adjustment strategies at a predominately white university

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on October 25, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Mark A. Fine.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2010.This phenomenological study explored 14 African American female students' social experiences and adjustment strategies at a predominantly White university. Each woman was interviewed twice, and the data were organized into a descriptive structure that captured the key phenomena of the women's experiences. The pervasive phenomenon that emerged was the women's resiliency in dealing with racialized and gender-based experiences with their faculty/staff and peers. The women encountered negative race-based instances with some of their White faculty/staff and negative race, gender, and status segregation from some of their White and African American peers. However, they believed that their receiving supportive assistance from and relations with (mostly) African American faculty/staff and peers diminished the negativity of the divisionary encounters. Moreover, the women's social experiences engendered mixed psychological (e.g., self-esteem, emotional comfort on campus) and social (e.g., racial views) developmental outcomes. The women overwhelmingly felt a high sense of self-worth, comfort with their (mostly African American) counterparts on campus, and ability to cope with race relations. However, they experienced some instances of discomfort and feelings of being unwanted on campus, which influenced the adjustment strategies they employed. Hence, the women sought and relied on the support they received from important others who were mostly African Americans (i.e., family, peers, faculty/staff), themselves, and their relationship with God to adjust to their social experiences on campus. Implications for student development research and interventions with African American college students are discussed.Includes bibliographical reference

Range expansion and reproduction of the ectoparasitic deer ked (Lipoptena cervi) in its novel host, the Arctic reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus), in Finland

The deer ked (Lipoptena cervi) is a harmful ectoparasite that emerged in the reindeer herding area of Finland in 2006. To understand the current range and the intensity of infestations on its novel reindeer host, we studied deer ked pupae collected from reindeer and moose bedding sites and conducted a questionnaire survey among the managers of 18 reindeer herding cooperatives in the southern part of the reindeer herding area. Our study confirmed that the deer ked can survive and successfully reproduce on reindeer through winter and that flying deer keds had been observed in reindeer wintering areas during several autumns in twelve cooperatives. The pupae originating from reindeer were smaller and showed lower hatching rates than the pupae from moose. The present results indicate that the range of the deer ked infestations on reindeer in Finland expanded during the recent 5 years, now reaching 14 cooperatives and bordering an area south of approximately 66 degrees N 25 degrees E in the west and 65 degrees N 29 degrees E east.Peer reviewe

Puna-apilan paikalliskantojen ekologia : kirjallisuustutkimus

vokKirjasto Aj-

Too important to fail? : Evaluating legal adaptive capacity for increasing coastal and marine aquaculture production in EU-Finland

This article analyses the legal adaptive capacity for increasing sustainable fish aquaculture production in EU-Finland. Currently, fish aquaculture is driven by increasing global demand of fish, declining natural fisheries, food security and blue growth policies. At the same time, environmental policies such as the EU Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive set tightening legal-ecological requirements for the industry's nutrient emissions. Against this background, the success of blue growth policies related to aquaculture – and the hope of reconciling competing interests at sea – boil down to measures available for dealing with excess nutrients. In line with the mitigation hierarchy, the article establishes four alternative pathways for the fish aquaculture industry to grow without increasing its environmental nutrient footprint significantly, and evaluates the legal adaptive capacity and the legal risks attached to these pathways.peerReviewe

Vectors and transmission dynamics for Setaria tundra (Filarioidea;

Background: Recent studies have revealed expansion by an array of Filarioid nematodes' into the northern boreal region of Finland. The vector-borne nematode, Setaria tundra, caused a serious disease outbreak in the Finnish reindeer population in 2003–05. The main aim of this study was to understand the outbreak dynamics and the rapid expansion of S. tundra in the sub arctic. We describe the vectors of S. tundra, and its development in vectors, for the first time. Finally we discuss the results in the context of the host-parasite ecology of S. tundra in Finland Results: Development of S. tundra to the infective stage occurs in mosquitoes, (genera Aedes and Anopheles). We consider Aedes spp. the most important vectors. The prevalence of S. tundra naturally infected mosquitoes from Finland varied from 0.5 to 2.5%. The rate of development in mosquitoes was temperature-dependent. Infective larvae were present approximately 14 days after a blood meal in mosquitoes maintained at room temperature (mean 21 C), but did not develop in mosquitoes maintained outside for 22 days at a mean temperature of 14.1 C. The third-stage (infective) larvae were elongated (mean length 1411 m (SD 207), and width 28 m (SD 2)). The anterior end was blunt, and bore two liplike structures, the posterior end slight tapering with a prominent terminal papilla. Infective larvae were distributed anteriorly in the insect's body, the highest abundance being 70 larvae in one mosquito. A questionnaire survey revealed that the peak activity of Culicidae in the reindeer herding areas of Finland was from the middle of June to the end of July and that warm summer weather was associated with reindeer flocking behaviour on mosquito-rich wetlands. Conclusion: In the present work, S. tundra vectors and larval development were identified and described for the first time. Aedes spp. mosquitoes likely serve as the most important and competent vectors for S. tundra in Finland. Warm summers apparently promote transmission and genesis of disease outbreaks by favouring the development of S. tundra in its mosquito vectors, by improving the development and longevity of mosquitoes, and finally by forcing the reindeer to flock on mosquito rich wetlands. Thus we predict that global climate change has the potential to promote the further emergence of Filarioid nematodes and the disease caused by them in subarctic regions

Maternal effects in vulnerability to eye-parasites and correlations between behavior and parasitism in juvenile Arctic charr

Hatchery-reared fish show high mortalities after release to the wild environment. Explanations for this include potentially predetermined genetics, behavioral, and physiological acclimation to fish farm environments, and increased vulnerability to predation and parasitism in the wild. We studied vulnerability to Diplostomum spp. parasites (load of eye flukes in the lenses), immune defense (relative spleen size) and antipredator behaviors (approaches toward predator odor, freezing, and swimming activity) in hatchery-reared juvenile Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) using a nested mating design. Fish were exposed to eye-fluke larvae via the incoming water at the hatchery. Fish size was positively associated with parasite load, but we did not find any relationship between relative spleen size and parasitism. The offspring of different females showed significant variation in their parasite load within sires, implying a dam effect in the vulnerability to parasites. However, the family background did not have any effect on spleen size. In the mean sire level over dams, the fish from the bolder (actively swimming) families in the predator trials suffered higher loads of eye flukes than those from more cautiously behaving families. Thus, the results indicate potentially maternally inherited differences in vulnerability to eye-fluke parasites, and that the vulnerability to parasites and behavioral activity are positively associated with each other at the sire level. This could lead to artificial and unintentional selection for increased vulnerability to both parasitism and predation if these traits are favored in fish farm environments.Peer reviewe

Crayfish population size under different routes of pathogen transmission

We present an epidemiological model for the crayfish plague, a disease caused by an invasive oomycete Aphanomyces astaci, and its general susceptible freshwater crayfish host. The pathogen shows high virulence with resulting high mortality rates in freshwater crayfishes native to Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. The crayfish plague occurrence shows complicated dynamics due to the several types of possible infection routes, which include cannibalism and necrophagy. We explore this complexity by addressing the roles of host cannibalism and the multiple routes of transmission through (1) environment, (2) contact, (3) cannibalism, and (4) scavenging of infected carcasses. We describe a compartment model having six classes of crayfish and a pool of crayfish plague spores from a single nonevolving strain. We show that environmental transmission is the decisive factor in the development of epidemics. Compared with a pathogen-free crayfish population, the presence of the pathogen with a low environmental transmission rate, regardless of the contact transmission rate, decreases the crayfish population size with a low risk of extinction. Conversely, a high transmission rate could drive both the crayfish and pathogen populations to extinction. High contact transmission rate with a low but nonzero environmental transmission rate can have mixed outcomes from extinction to large healthy population, depending on the initial values. Scavenging and cannibalism have a relevant role only when the environmental transmission rate is low, but scavenging can destabilize the system by transmitting the pathogen from a dead to a susceptible host. To the contrary, cannibalism stabilizes the dynamics by decreasing the proportion of infected population. Our model provides a simple tool for further analysis of complex host parasite dynamics and for the general understanding of crayfish disease dynamics in the wild.Peer reviewe

Vectors and transmission dynamics for Setaria tundra (Filarioidea; Onchocercidae), a parasite of reindeer in Finland

Background: Recent studies have revealed expansion by an array of Filarioid nematodes' into the northern boreal region of Finland. The vector-borne nematode, Setaria tundra, caused a serious disease outbreak in the Finnish reindeer population in 2003–05. The main aim of this study was to understand the outbreak dynamics and the rapid expansion of S. tundra in the sub arctic. We describe the vectors of S. tundra, and its development in vectors, for the first time. Finally we discuss the results in the context of the host-parasite ecology of S. tundra in Finland Results: Development of S. tundra to the infective stage occurs in mosquitoes, (genera Aedes and Anopheles). We consider Aedes spp. the most important vectors. The prevalence of S. tundra naturally infected mosquitoes from Finland varied from 0.5 to 2.5%. The rate of development in mosquitoes was temperature-dependent. Infective larvae were present approximately 14 days after a blood meal in mosquitoes maintained at room temperature (mean 21 C), but did not develop in mosquitoes maintained outside for 22 days at a mean temperature of 14.1 C. The third-stage (infective) larvae were elongated (mean length 1411 m (SD 207), and width 28 m (SD 2)). The anterior end was blunt, and bore two liplike structures, the posterior end slight tapering with a prominent terminal papilla. Infective larvae were distributed anteriorly in the insect's body, the highest abundance being 70 larvae in one mosquito. A questionnaire survey revealed that the peak activity of Culicidae in the reindeer herding areas of Finland was from the middle of June to the end of July and that warm summer weather was associated with reindeer flocking behaviour on mosquito-rich wetlands. Conclusion: In the present work, S. tundra vectors and larval development were identified and described for the first time. Aedes spp. mosquitoes likely serve as the most important and competent vectors for S. tundra in Finland. Warm summers apparently promote transmission and genesis of disease outbreaks by favouring the development of S. tundra in its mosquito vectors, by improving the development and longevity of mosquitoes, and finally by forcing the reindeer to flock on mosquito rich wetlands. Thus we predict that global climate change has the potential to promote the further emergence of Filarioid nematodes and the disease caused by them in subarctic regions

Environmental and genetic variation in protein content of peas under northern growing conditions and breeding implications

Association of protein content in peas with climatic factors was studied on data based on official cultivar trials at six locations in southern Finland in 1978—1985. Correlation and step-wise multiple linear regression methods were used to define the main climatic variables affecting protein content. Correlation studies showed that protein content was significantly and positively associated with temperature sum and mean June temperature and significantly negatively correlated with July precipitation. Regression analysis indicated that climatic factors accounted for 25 %—70 % of the total variation in protein content. Temperature sum and precipitation in July were the most important independent variables explaining protein variation. The role of environmental factors for protein variation and its implications for the improvement of protein content by plant breeding is discussed