Construction Management Service Learning: A How To Process for Success

To ensure that students are prepared for positions in the construction industry, construction management education programs expose students to industry relevant construction management (CM) theory and practice. Traditional transmission teaching methodologies, while arguably effective for teaching management theory and practice, are not as effective for the transfer of practical leadership skills and knowledge of construction specific processes. As an alternative teaching strategy, many CM programs incorporate service-learning (S-L) into curricula; providing students practical experience, focusing on the acquisition of knowledge through goal setting, thinking, planning, experimentation, observation, and reflection. However, from a practical standpoint, the development of a service-learning project can be a daunting task for the educator. Beyond determining a suitable project, a great deal of work must be undertaken to ensure a successful learning experience for the learner, as well as a successful project for the project owner or community partner. Processes must be put in place to ensure that the project is well developed, the student is practicing relevant CM skills, the project is completed in a timely manner to the satisfaction of the owner, and that the student learns through active reflection. Thus, this paper is presented not as a project specific case study, but an attempt to simplify for CM educators the development of CM S-L projects and to provide a step-by-step process to facilitate a successful learning experience

Mitochondrial glycolysis in a major lineage of eukaryotes

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is freely available from OUP via the DOI in this recordThe establishment of the mitochondrion is seen as a transformational step in the origin of eukaryotes. With the mitochondrion came bioenergetic freedom to explore novel evolutionary space leading to the eukaryotic radiation known today. The tight integration of the bacterial endosymbiont with its archaeal host was accompanied by a massive endosymbiotic gene transfer resulting in a small mitochondrial genome which is just a ghost of the original incoming bacterial genome. This endosymbiotic gene transfer resulted in the loss of many genes, both from the bacterial symbiont as well the archaeal host. Loss of genes encoding redundant functions resulted in a replacement of the bulk of the host's metabolism for those originating from the endosymbiont. Glycolysis is one such metabolic pathway in which the original archaeal enzymes have been replaced by the bacterial enzymes from the endosymbiont. Glycolysis is a major catabolic pathway that provides cellular energy from the breakdown of glucose. The glycolytic pathway of eukaryotes appears to be bacterial in origin, and in well-studied model eukaryotes it takes place in the cytosol. In contrast, here we demonstrate that the latter stages of glycolysis take place in the mitochondria of stramenopiles, a diverse and ecologically important lineage of eukaryotes. Although our work is based on a limited sample of stramenopiles, it leaves open the possibility that the mitochondrial targeting of glycolytic enzymes in stramenopiles might represent the ancestral state for eukaryotes.TAW is supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and NERC grant NE/P00251X/1. Work in the lab of MvdG was supported by Wellcome Trust grant 078566/A/05/Z. PGK wishes to acknowledge support by the German Research Foundation (DFG, grant KR 1661/6-1) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation GBMF 4966 (grant DiaEdit)

Conformational studies of stereoisomeric tetraols serived form syn- and anti-dibenzo [a,l]pyrene diolepoxides

An understanding of the conformational behavior of the stereoisomeric tetrols at the 11,12,13,14-positions of dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DB[a,l]P) is essential for the spectroscopic identification of DNA adducts derived from the biologically highly active fjord region syn- and anti-DB[a,l]P-11,12- diol 13,14-epoxides. Conformational effects are expected to play an important role in DNA-DB[a,l]P diol epoxide reactivity, base-sequence specificity, and conformation dependent repair. The results of conformational studies on trans-anti-, cis-anti-, and cis-syn-DB[a,l]P tetrol isomers are presented and compared to the results obtained previously for trans-syn-DB[a,l]P tetrol (Carcinogenesis 17, 829-837, 1996). Molecular mechanics, dynamical simulations, and semiempirical calculations of electronic transitions are used to interpret the low-temperature fluorescence spectra an

NMR investigations of the interaction between the azo-dye sunset yellow and Fluorophenol

The interaction of small molecules with larger noncovalent assemblies is important across a wide range of disciplines. Here, we apply two complementary NMR spectroscopic methods to investigate the interaction of various fluorophenol isomers with sunset yellow. This latter molecule is known to form noncovalent aggregates in isotropic solution, and form liquid crystals at high concentrations. We utilize the unique fluorine-19 nucleus of the fluorophenol as a reporter of the interactions via changes in both the observed chemical shift and diffusion coefficients. The data are interpreted in terms of the indefinite self-association model and simple modifications for the incorporation of a second species into an assembly. A change in association mode is tentatively assigned whereby the fluorophenol binds end-on with the sunset yellow aggregates at low concentration and inserts into the stacks at higher concentrations

Seasonal changes in the biochemical fate of carbon fixed by benthic diatoms in intertidal sediments

Benthic diatoms are important primary producers in intertidal marine sediments and form the basis of the food web in these ecosystems. In order to investigate the carbon flow within diatom mats, we performed in situ 13C pulse-chase labeling experiments and followed in detail the biochemical fate of carbon fixed by the diatoms for five consecutive days. These labeling experiments were done at approximately 2-monthly intervals during 1 yr in order to cover seasonal variations. The fixed carbon was recovered in individual carbohydrates including extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), amino acids, fatty acids, and nucleic acid bases. In addition, we assessed a variety of environmental parameters and photosynthetic characteristics. The fixed carbon was initially mainly stored as carbohydrate (glucose) while nitrogen-rich compounds (e.g., amino acids and RNA/DNA) were produced more slowly. During the year, the diatoms distributed the photosynthetically fixed carbon differently among the various carbon pools that were measured. In summer, the diatoms decreased carbon fixation and accumulated relatively more lipid as a storage compound (27% 6 2% vs. 12% 6 5% in other seasons). The percentage of fixed carbon that was excreted as EPS was lower in summer compared to other seasons, amounting 9% 6 4% and 21% 6 6%, respectively. Hence, it seemed that the physiology of the microphytobenthos was different during summer and caused by higher light intensity and a shift in nitrogen source

Fenologia da canola para as condições de cultivo no noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul.

Brassicaceae, sendo uma das poucas espécies oleaginosas que se adapta ao frio (KOVALESKI, 2015). É oriunda do Canadá. Foi introduzida inicialmente na região sul do Brasil e vem adquirindo importância cada vez maior, por se trata de uma espécie altamente rentável aos agricultores, pois permite ganhos financeiros equivalentes aos da soja. A área destinada ao cultivo da canola, cresce a cada ano. Em 2018 e 2019 a área cultivada foi de 35 e 34 mil ha, respectivamente (CONAB, 2020). A produtividade é muito dependente das condições meteorológicas ocorrentes na safra, principalmente ligadas às condições de temperatura do ar, que tendem a comprometer o crescimento e desenvolvimento da espécie se estiverem abaixo de 5ºC (DALMAGO et al., 2009). Também, é necessário atenção especial ao genótipo escolhido para o cultivo, quanto ao seu ciclo de desenvolvimento em função das épocas de semeadura

Fenologia da canola para as condições de cultivo no noroeste do Rio Grande do Sul.

A canola (Brassica napus L. var. oleifera) é uma espécie anual, oleaginosa, pertencente à família Brassicaceae, sendo uma das poucas espécies oleaginosas que se adapta ao frio (KOVALESKI, 2015). É oriunda do Canadá. Foi introduzida inicialmente na região sul do Brasil e vem adquirindo importância cada vez maior, por se trata de uma espécie altamente rentável aos agricultores, pois permite ganhos financeiros equivalentes aos da soja. A área destinada ao cultivo da canola, cresce a cada ano. Em 2018 e 2019 a área cultivada foi de 35 e 34 mil ha, respectivamente (CONAB, 2020). A produtividade é muito dependente das condições meteorológicas ocorrentes na safra, principalmente ligadas às condições de temperatura do ar, que tendem a comprometer o crescimento e desenvolvimento da espécie se estiverem abaixo de 5ºC (DALMAGO et al., 2009). Também, é necessário atenção especial ao genótipo escolhido para o cultivo, quanto ao seu ciclo de desenvolvimento em função das épocas de semeadura. Para um rendimento de grãos elevado a canola necessita de adequada interação entre genótipos, fatores edafoclimáticos e do manejo. E assim como outras espécies produtoras de grãos, a canola necessita de condições adequadas para completar seus subperíodos e expressar seu máximo potencial genético. Nessa cultura as variações na duração do ciclo são determinadas pela temperatura do ar, sendo a soma térmica a variável que mais determina a alteração da duração das fases de desenvolvimento (KRÜGER et al., 2009). Entretanto, a maioria dos estudos desenvolvidos com a espécie ainda apresentam que a produtividade abaixo do potencial. Isso demanda informações precisas direcionadas a cada ambiente para que possam ser identificados híbridos adequados às condições meteorológicas locais e assim alcançar-se a expectativa de rendimento de grãos. Desta forma, avaliar a resposta de genótipos frente às condições do ano de cultivo é uma ferramenta muito importante para dar segurança aos agricultores quando optarem pelo cultivo desta espécie. Portanto, o objetivo desse estudo foi caracterizar a soma térmica nos estádios fenológicos do híbrido de canola Diamond nos anos de cultivo de 2018 e 2019

Silencing of the Violaxanthin De-Epoxidase Gene in the Diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum Reduces Diatoxanthin Synthesis and Non-Photochemical Quenching

Diatoms are a major group of primary producers ubiquitous in all aquatic ecosystems. To protect themselves from photooxidative damage in a fluctuating light climate potentially punctuated with regular excess light exposures, diatoms have developed several photoprotective mechanisms. The xanthophyll cycle (XC) dependent non-photochemical chlorophyll fluorescence quenching (NPQ) is one of the most important photoprotective processes that rapidly regulate photosynthesis in diatoms. NPQ depends on the conversion of diadinoxanthin (DD) into diatoxanthin (DT) by the violaxanthin de-epoxidase (VDE), also called DD de-epoxidase (DDE). To study the role of DDE in controlling NPQ, we generated transformants of P. tricornutum in which the gene (Vde/Dde) encoding for DDE was silenced. RNA interference was induced by genetic transformation of the cells with plasmids containing either short (198 bp) or long (523 bp) antisense (AS) fragments or, alternatively, with a plasmid mediating the expression of a self-complementary hairpin-like construct (inverted repeat, IR). The silencing approaches generated diatom transformants with a phenotype clearly distinguishable from wildtype (WT) cells, i.e. a lower degree as well as slower kinetics of both DD de-epoxidation and NPQ induction. Real-time PCR based quantification of Dde transcripts revealed differences in transcript levels between AS transformants and WT cells but also between AS and IR transformants, suggesting the possible presence of two different gene silencing mediating mechanisms. This was confirmed by the differential effect of the light intensity on the respective silencing efficiency of both types of transformants. The characterization of the transformants strengthened some of the specific features of the XC and NPQ and confirmed the most recent mechanistic model of the DT/NPQ relationship in diatoms