Paxilline negative mutants of Penicillium paxilli generated by heterologous and homologous plasmid integration : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Molecular Genetics at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Using a monoclonal antibody-based ELISA, 600 pAN7-1 plasmid-tagged mutants of Penicillium paxilli were screened for paxilline accumulation and one paxilline negative mutant, YI-20, was identified (Itoh, unpublished data). A molecular analysis of this mutant showed that pAN7-1 was inserted at a single site but was present as 4-6 copies arranged in a head-to tail tandem repeat. Rescue of flanking sequences and analysis of the corresponding genomic region revealed that YI-20 has an extensive deletion at the site of pAN7-1 integration. Probing of a CHEF gel with the same sequences showed that associated with the deletion is a rearrangement of chromosome Va. Targeted gene disruption of wild-type sequences adjacent to the site where pAN7-1 inserted, resulted in the generation of two additional paxilline-negative mutants; both were single crossovers with deletions extending outside the region mapped. Neither of these new mutants had a rearrangement of chromosome Va, suggesting that deletion of genes on this chromosome is responsible for the paxilline-negative phenotype

Using professional colleagues as interviewers in action research: Possibilities and pitfalls.

In this study of her university teaching practice in science education, an action researcher sought the collaboration of a colleague to address research design issues related to researcher bias. The colleague worked in another field of study (mathematics education) but was experienced in qualitative research, notably interviewing. Acting as an outside interviewer, the colleague used her skills related to the dynamics of interviewing and her knowledge of the content of the study to elicit pertinent information from interviewees about the effectiveness of the first author's teaching. The additional expertise enhanced the quality of the study considerably and highlighted how "two heads can work better than one". In the process both researchers gained appreciable professional knowledge from each other. The first author gained a greater understanding of the interview process while the second author acquired an appreciation of how pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is viewed within the context of science, raising the possibility that there are some differences in the way that PCK is conceived within science versus mathematics. The collaboration also raised some unforseen issues that may have impacted on the nature of the findings. This paper discusses the positive outcomes of using a colleague as an interviewer in an action research project as well as some of the pitfalls that can also accompany such teamwork. Consideration is given to the issue of balancing the costs and benefits of this approach to data gathering

Organizational Learning from Extreme Performance Experience: The Impact of Success and Recovery Experience

This paper argues that two different types of a firm’s own extreme performance experiences—success and recovery—and their interactions can generate survival-enhancing learning. Although these types of experience often represent valuable sources of useful learning, several important learning challenges arise when a firm has extremely limited prior experience of the same type. Thus, we theorize that a certain threshold of a given type of experience is required before each type of experience becomes valuable, with low levels of experience harming the organization. Furthermore, we propose that success and recovery experience will interact to enhance each other’s value. These conditions can help overcome learning challenges such as superstitious learning or learning from small samples. We investigate our ideas using a sample of the U.S. commercial banks founded between 1984 and 1998. Our results indicate that both success and recovery experience of a firm generate survival-enhancing learning, but only after a certain level of experience is reached. Furthermore, success and recovery experience enhance each other’s learning value, consistent with the theories that emphasize the importance of richer and contrasting experience in providing useful knowledge. Our framework advances organizational learning theory by presenting a contingent model of the impact of success and recovery experience and their interaction

The Sweet Smell of Subsidies Revisited

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Measuring uncertainty in economic evaluations: A case study in liver transplantation

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 29/11/2006.It is important to account for all sources of uncertainty when evaluating the clinical or cost-effectiveness of health care technologies. Therefore, this thesis takes as its basis a cost-effectiveness study in liver transplantation and identifies two previously unexplored issues that can arise in clinical and cost-effectiveness studies. A literature review of studies evaluating the effectiveness, costs or cost-effectiveness of solid organ transplantation confirmed that these issues were important and relevant to other transplantation studies. The first issue concerns the selection of an appropriate method for estimating mean study costs in the presence of incomplete (censored) data. Twelve techniques were identified and their accuracy was compared across artificially created mechanisms and levels of censoring. Lin's method with known cost histories and short interval lengths is recommended for accurately estimating mean costs and their uncertainty. It is assumed that these findings are generalisable to any solid organ transplant study where censoring is an issue. The second issue explored in this thesis relates to methods for measuring uncertainty around survival, HRQL and cost estimates derived from prognostic models in the absence of observed data. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis is recommended for measuring prognostic model parameter uncertainty and estimating individual patient outcomes and their uncertainties, as it is able to incorporate the additional uncertainty from using prognostic models to estimate control group outcomes. This thesis shows the quantitative importance of these issues and the methodological guidance offered should enable decision makers to have more confidence in clinical and cost-effectiveness estimates. Providing decision makers with a fuller estimate of the uncertainty around clinical and cost effectiveness estimates will aid them in decisions about the necessity of conducting further research in to the clinical or cost-effectiveness of health care technologies.Department of Healt

Macronutrient Content of Winter Annual Cereal Grains with Phosphorus Fertilization

Missouri ranks third in the United States in cow-calf production, and much of the land these cattle graze has acidic soil that is low in plant available phosphorus (P). Proper soil fertility is important to ensure that these forages meet the nutritional requirements of cattle. Tall fescue (Festuca arundinaceum (Schreb.)), has been shown to respond to increased soil P levels with increased growth and leaf concentrations of P, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and potassium (K). It is unknown if winter annual cereals will respond similarly. The objective of this study is to examine cereal rye (Secale cereal L.), winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), and oat (Avena sativa L.), grown over winter for early spring forage production, and their response to different levels of P fertilization. In October of 2016 and 2017, the three species were planted at the Missouri State University Shealy Farm. Treatments of 0, 25, 50, and 100 lbs/acre P were applied in early winter. Forage was harvested the following spring, and nutrient concentrations were determined. In all species, P concentration in the leaf tissue increased with increasing P treatment levels. P fertilization caused an increase in Ca and Mg at the 100 lb treatment, and an increase in leaf K at the 50 lb treatment in oat. In winter wheat, P fertilization increased Ca concentration at the 25 lb, and Mg at the 50 lb treatment. There was no effect of treatment of K concentration in winter wheat. There was no significant effect of treatment on leaf Ca, Mg, or K in cereal rye. These findings suggest that P fertilization can influence the nutrient concentrations of winter wheat and oat, but have no influence on nutrient concentration of cereal rye

EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE ACREAGE RESTRICTION PROVISIONS ON ALABAMA COTTON FARMS

The 1985 Farm Bill departs from recent farm bills in moving toward more restrictive acreage control. The change from a two- to a five-year average in calculating base acreage and enforcement of limited cross-compliance appear to significantly alter crop mix decisions on representative Alabama cotton farms.Political Economy,

Fatal Attraction: The Fetishized Image of the Fatal Woman as Gothic Double

The Gothic heroine is often doubled by an image – a painting, statue, costume, drawing, projection, or mental image – that is preternaturally powerful and endowed with an antagonistic sexual presence. This image of the fatal woman, unlike portraits of the heroine, is a representation without a referent: a fetish object, both for fictional characters and critics. I argue that the simulacrum of dangerous femininity is a shifting signifier rather than a one-dimensional representation of – as previous critics have argued – ‘male fears and desires’ or female empowerment. Following the work of sociologist Bruno Latour and narratologist Mieke Bal, I read this figure as a polyvalent fetish. Rather than a representation of an intrinsic, decodable significance, this image reveals her fetishists – including critics – instead of herself or a cultural, social, or biological truth lurking behind her. I also argue that criticism of this image is as productive of cultural values as the fiction it critiques. The introduction lays out my methodology and theoretical direction, which is primarily Actor-Network-Theory, as outlined by Bruno Latour, and Narratology, particularly as it is employed by Mieke Bal. Chapter two surveys Romantic era Gothic (or the ‘golden age’ of Gothic), and compares visual culture and portraiture of the period with literary and dramatic representations of the fatal women, particularly as it pertains to the Gothic theme of ‘the unspeakable.’ In this chapter, I also compare Romantic and Gothic aesthetics. Chapter three considers Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s cult classic, Carmilla, as a serial published in the textual context of The Dark Blue journal and the eponymous vampire as a simulacral entity. The fourth chapter examines the discourse of late nineteenth-century degeneration theory in terms of artistic reproduction, with special attention to Oscar Wilde’s description of Dorian Gray’s maternal inheritance in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Looking at the ways that Victorian visual and literary tropes continue into the Twentieth Century, chapter six offers a reading of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca as an ironic camp novel in which identity is a charade and the central figure, Rebecca, is in fact a fetish image

The challenges of language teaching in Polish complementary schools in the UK during the Covid-19 lockdown

The Covid-19 lockdown in the UK during the spring of 2020 led to the closure of schools and school premises to most students, including complementary school pupils; yet while the lockdown in autumn 2020 allowed state schools to remain open, Polish complementary schools found themselves in an ambiguous position. This paper explores the experiences of eight Polish complementary school heads, focusing on their response to lockdown and the measures they took to provide online learning through the year. The paper also examines how changing lockdown policies impacted the running of their schools. Key findings suggest a creative approach was taken to learning, and that students were eager to respond. Meanwhile, there was increasing cooperation between different schools and support from external organisations. However, the challenges of online learning were also highlighted. Additionally, heads expressed concern about student retention and recruitment, and the potential long-term effects on their school. There was also discussion about the position of complementary schools within the broader education system. The paper argues that these findings highlight questions of inequality between the complementary and mainstream sectors, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic