Sustained Stimulus Paradigms and Sexual Dimorphism of the Aortic Baroreflex in Rat

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)The neurophysiological pathways associated with beat-to-beat regulation of mean arterial pressure are well known. Less known are the control dynamics associated with short term maintained of arterial blood pressure about a homeostatic set point. The barorefex (BRx), the most rapid and robust of neural refexes within the autonomic nervous system, is a negative feedback controller that monitors and regulates heart rate and blood pressure. By leveraging the parasympathetic and sympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system, the BRx can change blood pressure within a single heart beat. To better understand these controller dynamics, a classic BRx refexogenic experimental preparation was carried out. This thesis recon rmed previous observations of an electrically-evoked sexually-dimorphic peak depressor response in the BRx of Sprague-Dawley rats and veri ed that these functional refexogenic differences carry over to sustained electrical paradigms. Further, it uncovered interesting recovery dynamics in both blood pressure and heart rate. The rat aortic depressor nerve was used as an experimental target for electrical activation of the parasympathetic-mediated reduction in mean arterial pressure. The duration, frequency, and patterning of stimulation were explored, with emphasis on differences between sexes. By measuring the normalized percent decrease in mean arterial pressure as well as the differences in beats per minute during rest and during stimulation, the null hypothesis was rejected

Prankster questionaire.

The creative thesis that I have written is a memoir. It is not complete in its detail or ambition but instead focuses on themes and topics of self-transformation, reinvention and the unintentional consequences of several nervous breakdowns and experiments with psychedelic substances. This thesis is just a beginning for a longer more drawn out memoir that will explore the themes above but also discuss family, one’s sense of self worth in the world and how patterns between fathers and sons repeat themselves. I hope to eventually publish this work in a commercial setting

STRATEGI PENGEMBANGAN PARIWISATA OLEH PEMERINTAH KABUPATEN TANAH DATAR

ABSTRAK Mahdaya Landan, No BP 1210842005, Strategi Pengembangan Pariwisata Oleh Pemerintah Kabupaten Tanah Datar, Jurusan Administrasi Publik, Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik, Universitas Andalas, Padang, 2018. Dibimbing Oleh: Rozidateno Putri Hanida, S.IP, M.PA dan Ilham Aldelano Azre S.IP, MA. Skripsi Ini Terdiri Dari 171 Halaman Dengan Referensi 10 Buku Teori, 5 Buku Metode, 4 Skripsi, 1 Peraturan Daerah, 2 Dokumen, dan 5 Website Internet. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan dan menganalisis strategi pengembangan pariwisata oleh Pemerintah Kabupaten Tanah Datar. Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh adanya keseriusan Pemerintah Kabupaten Tanah Datar untuk meningkatkan perekonomian masyarakat melalui sektor industri pariwisata sebagaimana yang terdapat dalam RPJMD Kabupaten Tanah Datar tahun 2010-2015. Sasaran yang ingin dicapai dalam pengembangan potensi pariwisata yaitu berkembangnya kepariwisataan daerah dan juga sesuai dengan visi dari Dinas Kebudayaan Pariwisata Pemuda dan Olahraga Kabupaten Tanah Datar yaitu “ Terwujudnya Kabupaten Tanah Datar Sebagai Tujuan Wisata Yang berbudaya dan Berwawasan Lingkungan”. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah deskriptif kualitatif, teknik pengumpulan data menggunakan wawancara dan dokumentasi. Sementara untuk menguji keabsahan data yang didapat dilapangan dilakukan dengan teknik triangulasi sumber. Pemilihan informan dilakukan dengan teknik purposive sampling. Penelitian ini menggunakan teori Robert Crhistie Mill yang menggunakan empat analisa dalam pengembangan pariwisata yaitu, Analisa Pasar, Analisa Teknik dan Perencanaan, Analisa Sosioekonomi, serta Analisis Bisnis dan Hukum. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa strategi pengembangan pariwisata oleh Pemerintah Kabupaten Tanah Datar sudah cukup baik. Hal ini dibuktikan dengan peningkatan jumlah kunjungan wisatawan dan pembangunan sarana dan prasarana pendukung objek wisata Kabupaten Tanah Datar. Namun kendala dan masalah dalam pengembangan pariwisata ini masih ditemui diantaranya masalah polemik status tanah atau status lahan yang berada di lokasi objek wisata, masih rendahnya kesadaran masyarakat akan keunggulan dari sektor pariwisata, serta belum adanya landasan hukum seperti RIPPDA (Rencana Induk Pengembangan Pariwisata Daerah) yang khusus untuk mengatur pengembangan pariwisata di Kabupaten Tanah Datar. Kata kunci : Pariwisata, Strategi Pengembangan Pariwisata. ABSTRAK Mahdaya Landan, No BP 1219842005, Tourism Development Strategy by the Government District of Tanah Datar, Public Administration, Faculty of Socieal Sciences and Political Sciences, Universitas Andalas, Padang, 2018. Supervisor: Rozidateno Putri Hanida, S.IP, M.PA and Ilham Aldelano Azre S.IP, MA. This thesis consists of 171 pageswith references from 10 Theoretical Book, 5 Methodological books, 4 research papers, 1 Rule of District, 2 Documents, and 5 Internet Websites. The purpose of this research is to describe and analyze tourism development strategies used by the Tanah Datar Governmental District. This research is overshadowed by the overhang of serious intent by the Government District of Tanah Datar to increase the economic wellbeing of their community via improvements in the tourism industry, as stated on the RPJMD (Indonesian for: Regional Long-Term Development Plan) of the Tanah Datar District, 2010 – 2015. The objective in developing more potential for the tourism industry is to achieve improvements in regional tourism and in keeping with the visionof the of the Tanah Datar District Department of Cultural Youth Tourism and Sports, "The Establishment of Tanah Datar District as a Tourism Destination with Cultural and Environmental Experiences". The methods used to conduct this study were descriptive qualitative, data were collected by conductinginterviews and documentation. Meanwhile, the data obtained is validated by Triangulation. The selection of informants was done by purposive sampling. This research also implements Robert Crhistie Mill’s theory, which uses a four-way analyzing technique in tourism development that includes Market Analysis, Technical Analysis and Planning, Socioeconomicanalysis and Business and Legal analysis. The results of this study showed that the strategies used by the Government District of Tanah Datar is satisfactory. This is proven by the increase in the number of tourist visits and the expansion of facilities and infrastructure that promotes tourist attraction of the Tanah Datar District. However, problems and obstacles still arise in developing the tourism industry, such as polemic issues on land status or land status locatedon tourist sites, the lack of understanding from the society of the benefits fromthe tourism sector and the absence of legal basis such as RIPPDA (Indonesian for: Regional Tourism Development Master Plan) which specifically regulates the tourism development at the Tanah Datar District. Keywords: Tourism, Tourism Development Strategy

Thermodynamic Properties of Chromium Adsorption by Sediments of River Watari, Kano State

The adsorption of Chromium from aqueous solution using river Watari sediment as an adsorbent was modeled. The influence of initial pH, solution temperature, adsorbent and adsorbate concentrations on the adsorption efficiency was investigated using batch equilibrium assays. From the results obtained for the adsorption envelop experiments, a good adsorption potential was recorded at initial pH of 2 and a temperature of 25oC. The experimental data obtained was subjected to different adsorption isotherm models including; Linear, Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin to establish the mechanism of chromium adsorption onto the sediment. Amongst the four models tested, Langmuir gave the best fit with regression values ranging from 0.6494 to 0.7459 for 25oC, 30oC, 40oC and 50oC respectively which suggests a homogeneous surface for the sediment. The isosteric heat (ΔHr) of adsorption and enthalpy change (ΔH) did not change with temperature also indicating a homogeneous sediment surface. Based on the values of entropies, activation energies and Gibb’s free energies obtained, the adsorption was found to be spontaneous at all temperatures.Keywords: Adsorption, Chromium ion, Equilibrium isotherms, and Sediment

Application and comparative performance of network modularity algorithms to ecological communities classification

Network modularity is a well-studied large-scale connectivity pattern in networks. The detection of modules in real networks constitutes a crucial step towards a description of the network building blocks and their evolutionary dynamics. The performance of modularity detection algorithms is commonly quantified using simulated networks data. However, a comparison of the modularity algorithms utility for real biological data is scarce. Here we investigate the utility of network modularity algorithms for the classification of ecological plant communities. Plant community classification by the traditional approaches requires prior knowledge about the characteristic and differential species, which are derived from a manual inspection of vegetation tables. Using the raw species abundance data we constructed six different networks that vary in their edge definitions. Four network modularity algorithms were examined for their ability to detect the traditionally recognized plant communities. The use of more restrictive edge definitions significantly increased the accuracy of community detection, that is, the correspondence between network-based and traditional community classification. Random-walk based modularity methods yielded slightly better results than approaches based on the modularity function. For the whole network, the average agreement between the manual classification and the network-based modules is 76% with varying congruence levels for different communities ranging between 11% and 100%. The network-based approach recovered the known ecological gradient from riverside – sand and gravel bank vegetation – to dryer habitats like semidry grassland on dykes. Our results show that networks modularity algorithms offer new avenues of pursuit for the computational analysis of species communities