CAN SHEEP CONTROL LEAFY SPURGE WITHOUT COMPROMISING EFFORTS TO RESTORE NATIVE PLANTS?

This thesis includes two studies on the ecological effects of using sheep to control Euphorbia esula (leafy spurge). While sheep can effectively reduce E. esula when used as a long-term management strategy, little is known about their impacts on native plants. The efficacy of sheep grazing for restoration depends both on its potential for controlling undesirable plants and its ability to promote native species that provide key ecosystem goods and services. I investigated the effects of sheep grazing on native plants at both seed and mature-plant stages. To assess impacts on seedling establishment, I measured density of forb and graminoid seedlings in 15 grazed and 15 control (un-grazed) plots; after grazing, plots were treated with one of five experimental seeding treatments that varied by season and density of seed applied. To assess sheep impacts on abundance of mature plants, I measured change in percent stems grazed (pre- to post-grazing) of perennial forbs in 55 plots (including five controls) in an E. esula -invaded area with remnant native plants. Grazed plots had significantly fewer graminoid seedlings than un-grazed ones (28 vs 61/plot, respectively), but forb seedling density did not vary significantly. Mean change in percent stems grazed was higher for non-native than for native forbs (70% vs 23%, respectively), indicating that sheep preferentially grazed non-natives. However, sheep also consumed native forbs when they were abundant. Thus, appropriately timing grazing and careful monitoring of consumption is critical to reduce impacts on native plants. I also conducted a pilot study of the role of sheep as dispersal vectors for plant seeds. I measured seedling germination rates in feces collected from sheep used for E. esula control. Density and species of germinants were recorded from pots with soil enriched with fecal samples from 13 time periods as well as control pots with only soil. A total of 125 seedlings germinated from the feces (80 forbs and 45 graminoids), including five non-native (three forbs, two graminoids) and two native (forb) species. Forb germination rates were highest in late summer samples, while graminoid rates were higher in early-summer and ones. Overall, sheep fecal dispersal favored non-native plants

PENGARUH SELF ESTEEM, BUDGET EMPHASIS, DAN LOCUS OF CONTROL TERHADAP BUDGETARY SLACK (STUDI EMPIRIS PADA APARATUR ORGANISASI PERANGKAT DAERAH DI KOTA PALANGKA RAYA)

This study aims to determine the effect of self esteem, budget emphasis, and locus of control on budgetary slack. This study uses a quantitative method with a questionnaire as an instrument. The  population in this study were all apparatus of the Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD) in the City of Palangka Raya. Based on the purposive sampling method, the number of samples obtained was 100 people. The theory used in this research is agency theory. And the type of research in this study is quantitative research with multiple regression testing and validity and reliability testing is performed to determine the quality of the questionnaire used with the help of SPSS 25 software. The results of this study indicate that partially self esteem and budget emphasis variables have positive and significant effects on budgetary slack. While the locus of control has a positive effect on budgetary slack

Effect of 20-years crop rotation and different strategies of fertilization on weed seedbank

Crop rotation is thought to reduce weed density and maintain species diversity, preventing the domination of few competitive weeds. In this work rotations of 1, 2, 4 and 6 years length have been compared in a long-term experiment since 1976. In order to detect the effect of rotation length and fertilization on weed community evolution, a specific study was performed on weed seedbank with soil sampling in 1993 and 2012.Results: show that weed density was not affected by rotation length or fertilization type or rate, and that about 98% of weed species were indifferent to the factors applied. The dominance of Portulaca oleracea and increment of a few grass weeds were consequences of an inadequate management of late emergence and post-harvest weeds. Furthermore, no significant changes in the distribution of seeds longevity groups occurred in the seed-bank from 1993 to 2012. In cropping systems where herbicides are used according to best practices or to In-tegrated Weed Management principles, the effect of rotation on weeds is hard to detect even in long-term experiments. For this, the effect of herbicides must be included in a more general theory of rotational effects

Nefoussa (Djebel) / Adrar n Infusen : Langue et révolution (Témoignage)

L’Encyclopédie berbère se tient habituellement à distance de l’actualité immédiate, l’absence de recul ne permettant pas une analyse sereine des faits et situations et de proposer aux lecteurs un état des connaissances solidement documenté, sinon assuré. Même en matière de productions et d’acteurs culturels contemporains, l’EB adopte une approche prudente et mesurée : seules les « valeurs sûres » – produits et producteurs culturels dont le rôle et l’action sont largement reconnus et incontour..

GLUT3 is induced during epithelial-mesenchymal transition and promotes tumor cell proliferation in non-small cell lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: Alterations in glucose metabolism and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) constitute two important characteristics of carcinoma progression toward invasive cancer. Despite an extensive characterization of each of them separately, the links between EMT and glucose metabolism of tumor cells remain elusive. Here we show that the neuronal glucose transporter GLUT3 contributes to glucose uptake and proliferation of lung tumor cells that have undergone an EMT. RESULTS: Using a panel of human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines, we demonstrate that GLUT3 is strongly expressed in mesenchymal, but not epithelial cells, a finding corroborated in hepatoma cells. Furthermore, we identify that ZEB1 binds to the GLUT3 gene to activate transcription. Importantly, inhibiting GLUT3 expression reduces glucose import and the proliferation of mesenchymal lung tumor cells, whereas ectopic expression in epithelial cells sustains proliferation in low glucose. Using a large microarray data collection of human NSCLCs, we determine that GLUT3 expression correlates with EMT markers and is prognostic of poor overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, our results reveal that GLUT3 is a transcriptional target of ZEB1 and that this glucose transporter plays an important role in lung cancer, when tumor cells loose their epithelial characteristics to become more invasive. Moreover, these findings emphasize the development of GLUT3 inhibitory drugs as a targeted therapy for the treatment of patients with poorly differentiated tumors

Increasing the germination percentage of a declining native orchid (Himantoglossum adriaticum) by pollen transfer and outbreeding between populations

The declining native orchid Himantoglossum adriaticum H. Baumann is a European endemic of priority interest (92/43/ EEC, Annex II). Northern Italian populations of H. adriaticum are small and isolated, with depressed seed set. Given the important implications for plant population conservation, we tested the hypothesis that artificial pollen transfer (hand-pollination) and outbreeding between populations increases fruit set and seed germination percentage. The background fruit set and in vitro germination rates were determined for ten reference populations. An artificial cross-pollination experiment included (a) pollen transfer from one large population to two small and isolated populations; (b) pollen transfer between two small but not isolated populations; (c) within-population pollen transfer (control). All seeds were sown on a modified Malmgren's medium and cultured in a controlled environment. Germination percentage was compared using a Kruskal-Wallis anova. The background fruit set (mean = 18%) and germination (<5%) rates were consistently low across populations. Fruit set after hand-pollination was consistently 100%. Pollen transfer from the largest population to smaller populations resulted in an increase in total germination ranging from 0.9% to 2.9%. The largest increase in germination occurred between small-sized and less isolated populations (from 1.7% to 5.1%). The results of pollen transfer between the small populations are particularly encouraging, as the mean increase in germination was almost four times that of the control. Outbreeding can be considered a valuable tool to increase genetic flow and germination in natural populations, limit the accumulation of detrimental effects on fitness driven by repeated breeding with closely-related individuals, thereby increasing the possibility of conservation of rare or endangered species