Modulation of iron responsive gene expression and enzymatic activities in response to changes of the iron nutritional status in _Cucumis sativus_ L.

Regulation exerted by the iron status of the plant on the iron deficiency responses was investigated in cucumber roots (_Cucumis sativus_ L.) both at the biochemical and molecular level. Absence of iron induced the expression of the CsFRO1, CsIRT1, CsHA1 and the Cspepc1 transcripts that was followed by an increase in the corresponding enzymatic activities. Supply of iron repressed gene expression, in particular those of the Fe(III)-chelate reductase and for the high affinity iron transporter and reduce the enzymatic activities. Our results confirm and extend the hypothesis of a coordinate regulation of these responses. Besides these two activities strictly correlated with iron deficiency adaptation, we considered also the H+-ATPase and the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, that have been shown to be involved in this response

Construing Character: Virtue as a Cognitive-Affective Processing System

This dissertation, Construing Character: Virtue as a Cognitive-Affective Processing System, develops an empirically plausible account of neo-Aristotelian virtue based on the psychological model of personality as a cognitive-affective processing system. The psychological model holds that an individual’s subjective construal of a situation is crucial to understanding that individual’s behavior. The account of virtue developed in the dissertation begins, therefore, with an elaboration of the distinctive way in which the virtuous person construes situations, which is used to develop and defend a McDowellian view of practical reasoning. Aristotle’s method of individuating the virtues is defended and employed to outline a framework of ‘thin’ and ‘thick’ accounts of individual virtues, where the thin account specifies the field of concern of the virtue and grounds the account in an Aristotelian notion of excellence, while the thick account elaborates the particular cognitive-affective elements that constitute the virtue. The account is applied to the virtues of courage and patience in order to show how the action guidance and assessment capabilities of virtue ethics remain intact