825 resultados para Elite Swimmers
Resumo:
The dissertation examines the power mechanisms and institutional power hierarchies of the 1940s-1950s era arts elite in Helsinki and their influence on issues of taste in the visual arts. For the purposes of this study, the elite is understood to consist mainly of the board members of the principal elected bodies in the field of the arts. The theoretical framework employed is based on Pierre Bourdieu s field theory and the network perspective. The author has examined what the key, pervasive valuations were that governed the exercising of power by the arts elite in issues of taste, involving determination of who was an acknowledged artist and what was good art. The dissertation demonstrates that this exercising of power was governed by certain collective practices which maintained the illusion that the exercising of power was democratic and based on artistic quality. These practices were the corporate system, using artistic arguments in issues of taste, and using networks in the exercising of power. The struggle in the field of the arts was about who ultimately was entitled to define the value of contemporary art; the issue did not arise regarding historical art. Artists managed to gain a leading position as gatekeepers in issues regarding contemporary art. The author discusses a number of conflicts in the field of the arts that highlight the institutional hierarchies and the capital held by the various players. The structural changes that occurred in administration in the field of cultural production in the 1950s led to the separation of bureaucratic competence on the one hand and aesthetic competence on the other. There was a hierarchy in the field of the arts between institutions, between instruments of legitimisation, and between the symbolic and social capital of players in the field. The hierarchy in the arts ultimately depended on how well the elite could influence tastes through the instruments at their disposal. The various instruments of legitimisation grants, purchases, etc. were ranked differently in the evaluation of acknowledged artists and good art. The dissertation discusses what values, in the form of types of symbolic capital, the arts elite embraced and what role these played in the elite s exercising of power, with particular focus on gender, language, region and economic capital. The aesthetic capital of an artist was of only minor importance in the exercising of power by the arts elite. The dissertation further discusses the points of contact between the arts elite and players in other fields, such as the economic, media and consumer fields. When the arts elite, through the Academy of Fine Arts, became an active player in the art market, this led to a hierarchy where the division between acknowledged and not-acknowledged galleries became sharper.
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A decision support system has been developed in Queensland to evaluate how changes in silvicultural regimes affect wood quality, and specifically the graded recovery of structural timber. Models of tree growth, branch architecture and wood properties were developed from data collected in routine Caribbean pine plantations and specific silvicultural experiments. These models were incorporated in software that simulates the conversion of standing trees into logs, and the logs into boards, and generates detailed data on knot location and basic density distribution. The structural grade of each board was determined by simulating the machine stress-grading process, and the predicted graded recovery provided an indicator of wood value. The decision support system improves the basis of decision-making by simulating the performance of elite genetic material under specified silvicultural regimes and by predicting links between wood quality and general stand attributes such as stocking and length of rotation.
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Wheat is one of the major food crops in the world. It is Australia's largest crop and most important agricultural commodity. In Australia the crop is grown under rainfed conditions with inherently important regional environmental differences; wheat growing areas are characterized by winter dominant rainfall in southern and western Australia and summer rainfall in northern Australia. Maximizing yield potential across these diverse regions is dependent upon managing, either genetically or agronomically, those factors in the environment that limit yield. The potential of synthetic backcross lines (SBLs) to increase yield in the diverse agroecological zones of Australia was investigated. Significant yield advantages were found for many of the SBLs across diverse environments. Depending on the environment, the yield of the SBLs ranged from 8% to 30% higher than the best local check in Australia. Apart from adaptation to semiarid water stressed conditions, some SBLs were also found to be significantly higher yielding under more optimal (irrigated) conditions. The four testing environments were classified into two groups, with the northern and southern environments being in separate groups. An elite group of SBLs was identified that exhibited broad adaptation across all diverse Australian environments included in this study. Other SBLs showed specific adaptation to either northern or southern Australia. This study showed that SBLs are likely to provide breeders with the opportunity to significantly improve wheat yield beyond what was previously possible in a number of diverse production environments.
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We have tested the efficacy of putative microsatellite single sequence repeat (SSR) markers, previously identified in a 2-49 (Gluyas Early/Gala) × Janz doubled haploid wheat (Triticum aestivum) population, as being linked to partial seedling resistance to crown rot disease caused by Fusarium pseudograminearum. The quantitative trait loci (QTLs) delineated by these markers have been tested for linkage to resistance in an independent Gluyas Early × Janz doubled haploid population. The presence of a major QTL on chromosome 1DL (QCr.usq-1D1) and a minor QTL on chromosome 2BS (QCr.usq-2B1) was confirmed. However, a putative minor QTL on chromosome 2A was not confirmed. The QTL on 1D was inherited from Gluyas Early, a direct parent of 2-49, whereas the 2B QTL was inherited from Janz. Three other putative QTLs identified in 2-49 × Janz (on 1AL, 4BL, and 7BS) were inherited by 2-49 from Gala and were not able to be confirmed in this study. The screening of SSR markers on a small sample of elite wheat genotypes indicated that not all of the most tightly linked SSR markers flanking the major QTLs on 1D and 1A were polymorphic in all backgrounds, indicating the need for additional flanking markers when backcrossing into some elite pedigrees. Comparison of SSR haplotypes with those of other genotypes exhibiting partial crown rot resistance suggests that additional, novel sources of crown rot resistance are available.
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The historical development of Finnish nursing textbooks from the late 1880s to 1967: the training of nurses in the Foucauldian perspective. This study aims, first, to analyse the historical development of Finnish nursing textbooks in the training of nurses and in nursing education: what Foucauldian power processes operate in the writing and publishing processes? What picture of nursing did early nursing books portray and who were the decision makers? Second, this study also aims to analyse the processes of power in nurse training processes. The time frame extends from the early stages of nurse training in the late 1880s to 1967. This present study is a part of textbook research and of the history of professional education in Finland. This study seeks to explain how, who or what contributed the power processes involved in the writing of nursing textbooks and through textbooks. Did someone use these books as a tool to influence nursing education? The third aim of this study is to define and analyse the purpose of nurse training. Michel Foucault´s concept of power served as an explanatory framework for this study. A very central part of power is the assembling of data, the supplying of information and messages, and the creation of discourses. When applied to the training of nurses, power dictates what information is taught in the training and contained in the books. Thus, the textbook holds an influential position as a power user in these processes. Other processes in which such power is exercised include school discipline and all other normalizing processes. One of most powerful ways of adapting is the hall of residence, where nursing pupils were required to live. Trained nurses desired to separate themselves from their untrained predecessors and from those with less training by wearing different uniforms and living in separate housing units. The state supported the registration of trained nurses by legislation. With this decision the state made it illegal to work as a nurse without an authorised education, and use these regulations to limit and confirm the professional knowledge and power of nurses. Nurses, physicians and government authorities used textbooks in nursing education as tools to achieve their own purposes and principles. With these books all three groups attempted to confirm their own professional power and knowledge while at the same time limit the power and expertise of others. Public authorities sought to unify the training of nurses and the basis of knowledge in all nursing schools in Finland with similar and obligatory textbooks. This standardisation started 20 years before the government unified nursing training in 1930. The textbooks also served as data assemblers in unifying nursing practices in Finnish hospitals, because the Medical Board required all training hospitals to attach the textbooks to units with nursing pupils. For the nurses, and especially for the associations of Finnish nurses, making and publishing their own textbooks for the training of nurses was a part of their professional projects. With these textbooks, the nursing elite and the teachers tended to prepare nursing pupils’ identities for nursing’s very special mission. From the 1960s, nursing was no longer understood as a mission, but as a normal vocation. Nurses and doctors disputed this view throughout the period studied, which was the optimal relationship between theory and practice in nursing textbooks and in nurse education. The discussion of medical knowledge in nursing textbooks took place in the 1930s and 1940s. Nurses were very confused about their own professional knowledge and expertise, which explains why they could not create a new nursing textbook despite the urgency. A brand new nursing textbook was published in 1967, about 30 years after the predecessor. Keyword: nurse, nurse training, nursing education, power, textbook, Michel Foucault
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The ability to predict phenology and canopy development is critical in crop models used for simulating likely consequences of alternative crop management and cultivar choice strategies. Here we quantify and contrast the temperature and photoperiod responses for phenology and canopy development of a diverse range of elite Indian and Australian sorghum genotypes (hybrid and landrace). Detailed field experiments were undertaken in Australia and India using a range of genotypes, sowing dates, and photoperiod extension treatments. Measurements of timing of developmental stages and leaf appearance were taken. The generality of photo-thermal approaches to modelling phenological and canopy development was tested. Environmental and genotypic effects on rate of progression from emergence to floral initiation (E-FI) were explained well using a multiplicative model, which combined the intrinsic development rate (Ropt), with responses to temperature and photoperiod. Differences in Ropt and extent of the photoperiod response explained most genotypic effects. Average leaf initiation rate (LIR), leaf appearance rate and duration of the phase from anthesis to physiological maturity differed among genotypes. The association of total leaf number (TLN) with photoperiod found for all genotypes could not be fully explained by effects on development and LIRs. While a putative effect of photoperiod on LIR would explain the observations, other possible confounding factors, such as air-soil temperature differential and the nature of model structure were considered and discussed. This study found a generally robust predictive capacity of photo-thermal development models across diverse ranges of both genotypes and environments. Hence, they remain the most appropriate models for simulation analysis of genotype-by-management scenarios in environments varying broadly in temperature and photoperiod.
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The banana industry worldwide is under threat from a fungal disease known as Fusarium wilt, a disease for which there is no chemical control. Conventional breeding approaches to generate resistant banana varieties are lengthy and very difficult. As such, genetic engineering for disease resistance is considered the most viable control option. In this PhD thesis, genetically modified banana plants were generated using several different stress tolerance genes. When challenged with Fusarium wilt in glasshouse trials, some lines showed increased resistance to the disease. The promising elite lines generated in this study will now require testing in field trials.
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Our research programme with elite athletes has investigated and implemented learning design from an ecological dynamics perspective, examining its effects on movement coordination and control and the acquisition of expertise. Ecological dynamics is a systemsoriented theoretical rationale for understanding the emergent relations in a complex system formed by each performer and a performance environment. This approach has identified the individual-environment relationship as the relevant scale of analysis for modelling how processes of perception, cognition and action underpin expert performance in sport (Davids et al., 2014; Zelaznik, 2014). In this chapter we elucidate key concepts from ecological dynamics and exemplify how they have informed our understanding of relevant psychological processes including: movement coordination and its acquisition, learning and transfer, impacting on practice task design in high performance programmes.
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Inter-specific Corymbia hybrids are of increasing interest to plantation forestry, yet there is little knowledge of the most suitable controlled pollination methods for this genus. Inter-specific crosses were made between C. torelliana [CT(maternal parent)] and C. citriodora subsp. variegata (CCV), C. henryi (CH) and C. citriodora subsp. citriodora (CCC) using conventional pollination, one-stop pollination (OSP) and artificially-induced protogyny on yellow buds (AIP Y) pollination methods. Additional treatments included AIP on green buds (AIP G) and the use of exclusion bags for the OSP and AIP methods. Inter-specific hybrids (CT x CCV, CT x CH and CT x CCC) were successfully created using all three pollination methods. The AIP Y treatment provided the highest seed yields and achieved time savings of >41% over the conventional and OSP methods, resulting in up to five-fold increases in operator productivity. However, the AIP Y treatment also had the highest C. torelliana contamination levels (9.3–13.2%). The use of exclusion bags with the AIP method had minimal effect on contamination rates, indicating a high proportion of selfpollen contamination. Contamination rates varied between maternal parents, suggesting variation in selfcompatibility for C. torelliana individuals. AIP using semi-ripe green buds was not effective at reducing selfing and had low operator productivity. The AIP method is suitable for use in a large-scale hybrid breeding program for C. torelliana. When self-pollination effects are managed, it could greatly reduce the costs associated with the production of seed of elite family crosses for commercial forestry deployment.
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In 2002, AFL Queensland and the Brisbane Lions Football Club approached the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (Queensland) for advice on improving their Premier League sports fields. They were concerned about player safety and dissatisfaction with playing surfaces, particularly uneven turf cover and variable under-foot conditions. They wanted to get the best from new investments in ground maintenance equipment and irrigation infrastructure. Their sports fields were representative of community-standard, multi-use venues throughout Australia; generally ‘natural’ soil fields, with low maintenance budgets, managed by volunteers. Improvements such as reconstruction, drainage, or regular re-turfing are generally not affordable. Our project aimed to: (a) Review current world practice and performance benchmarks; (b) Demonstrate best-practice management for community-standard fields; (c) Adapt relevant methods for surface performance testing; (d) Assess current soils, and investigate useful amendments; (e) Improve irrigation system performance; and (e) Build industry capacity and encourage patterns for ongoing learning. Most global sports field research focuses on elite, sand-based fields. We adjusted elite standards for surface performance (hardness, traction, soil moisture, evenness, sward cover/height) and maintenance programs, to suit community-standard fields with lesser input resources. In regularly auditing ground conditions across 12 AFLQ fields in SE QLD, we discovered surface hardness (measured by Clegg Hammer) was the No. 1 factor affecting player safety and surface performance. Other important indices were turf coverage and surface compaction (measured by penetrometer). AFLQ now runs regularly audits affiliated fields, and closes grounds with hardness readings greater than 190 Gmax. Aerating every two months was the primary mechanical practice improving surface condition and reducing hardness levels to < 110 Gmax on the renovated project fields. With irrigation installation, these fields now record surface conditions comparable to elite fields. These improvements encouraged many other sporting organisations to seek advice / assistance from the project team. AFLQ have since substantially invested in an expanded ground improvement program, to cater for this substantially increased demand. In auditing irrigation systems across project fields, we identified low maintenance (with < 65% of sprinklers operating optimally) as a major problem. Retrofitting better nozzles and adjusting sprinklers improved irrigation distribution uniformity to 75-80%. Research showed that reducing irrigation frequency to weekly, and preparedness to withhold irrigation longer after rain, reduced irrigation requirement by 30-50%, compared to industry benchmarks of 5-6 ML/ha/annum. Project team consultation with regulatory authorities enhanced irrigation efficiency under imposed regional water restrictions. Laboratory studies showed incorporated biosolids / composts, or topdressed crumb rubber, improved compaction resistance of soils. Field evaluations confirmed compost incorporation significantly reduced surface hardness of high wear areas in dry conditions, whilst crumb rubber assisted turf persistence into early winter. Neither amendment was a panacea for poor agronomic practices. Under the auspices of the project Trade Mark Sureplay®, we published > 80 articles, and held > 100 extension activities involving > 2,000 participants. Sureplay® has developed a multi-level curator training structure and resource materials, subject to commercial implementation. The partnerships with industry bodies (particularly AFLQ), frequent extension activities, and engagement with government/regulatory sectors have been very successful, and are encouraged for any future work. Specific aspects of sports field management for further research include: (a) Understanding of factors affecting turf wear resistance and recovery, to improve turf persistence under wear; (b) Simple tests for pinpointing areas of fields with high hardness risk; and (c) Evaluation of new irrigation infrastructure, ‘water-saving’ devices, and irrigation protocols, in improving water use and turf cover outcomes.
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In political journalism, the battle over agenda-setting between journalists and their sources has been described using many metaphors and concepts. Herbert Gans saw it as a dance where the two parties competed for leadership, arguing that sources usually got the lead. We address the question of how social media, in particular Twitter, contribute to media agenda-building and agenda-setting by looking at how tweets are sourced in election campaign coverage in Australia, Norway and Sweden. Our findings show that the popularity of elite political sources is a common characteristic across all countries and media. Sourcing from Twitter reinforces the power of the political elites to set the agenda of the news media – they are indeed “still leading the dance”. Twitter content travels to the news media as opinions, comments, announcements, factual statements, and photos. Still, there are variations that must be explained both by reference to different political and cultural characteristics of the three countries, as well as by the available resources and journalistic profiles of each media outlet.
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Lihavuus ja ylipaino ovat viime vuosikymmeninä yleistyneet; jo yli puolet länsimaiden väestöstä on ylipainoisia ja viidennes lihavia. Varsinkin nuorilla ylipainon lisääntyminen on ollut nopeaa. Ylipaino, erityisesti yhdistettynä vyötärölihavuuteen, sekä tupakointi lisäävät sairastavuutta sydän- ja verisuonisairauksiin, metabolisiin sairauksiin, kuten diabetekseen, sekä moniin syöpiin. Lihavuus ja tupakointi ovatkin kehittyneiden maiden tärkeimpiä ehkäistävissä olevia kuolinsyitä. Samanaikaisesti ylipainon kanssa laihduttaminen ja jopa terveydelle haitalliset laihdutusmenetelmät, kuten tupakointi painonhallintakeinona on tullut yhä yleisemmäksi. Nopeaan painonpudotukseen tähtäävällä laihduttamisella on usein terveydelle haitallisia seurauksia kuten painon nousu yli alkuperäisen painon ja kehon rasvajakauman muuttuminen epäterveellisemmäksi. Kolme neljännestä merkittävästi laihduttaneista kertoo painon nousseen takaisin. Tupakoinnin ja toistuvan laihduttamisen vaikutukset ylipainon ja lihavuuden kehittymiselle kytkeytyvät toisiinsa. Tässä väitöskirjatyössä tutkittiin toistuvan laihduttamisen ja tupakoinnin vaikutusta kehon painoon ja lisäksi tupakoinnin vaikutusta vyötärölihavuuden kehittymiseen. Työn toisena tavoitteena oli tutkia, kuinka voimakkaasti tupakointi ja toistuva laihduttaminen liittyvät toisiinsa suomalaisilla ja onko tämä yhteys erilainen eri ikäryhmissä ja sukupuolilla. Työ perustuu kolmeen laajaan kyselyaineistoon: Nuorten Kaksosten Terveystutkimuksen (englanniksi FinnTwin16) aineistossa on seurattu 1975-79 syntyneitä kaksosia 16, 17, 18 ja 24 vuoden ikäisinä (N=5563). Suomen kaksoskohortin aineisto (N= 12 793) on kerätty vuonna 1990 samaa sukupuolta olevilta, vuosina 1930-57 syntyneiltä kaksosilta. Entisten huippu-urheilijoiden (N=1838) ja heille kaltaistettujen verrokkien (N=834) seurantatutkimuksessa tiedot on kerätty vuosina 1985, 1995 ja 2001. Pituus, paino ja tupakointi on kysytty kaikissa kyselyissä. Kaksoset vastasivat laihdutuskäyttäytymistä koskeviin kysymyksiin. Urheilijoiden laihdutuskäyttäytyminen pääteltiin lajin perusteella, sillä toistuvan laihduttamisen tiedetään olevan yleistä painoluokissa urheilevilla urheilijoilla (esim.painijat, nyrkkeilijät). Nuoruusiän tupakointi ennusti vyötärölihavuutta molemmilla sukupuolilla ja lisäksi ylipainoisuutta naisilla. Toistuva laihduttaminen oli yhteydessä myöhempään painonnousuun ja lihavuuteen miehillä. Lisäksi toistuvan laihduttamisen ja tupakoinnin todettiin liittyvän toisiinsa nuorilla aikuisilla. Vanhemmissa ikäluokissa miehet, jotka tupakoivat, laihduttivat harvemmin kuin tupakoimattomat. Lihavuuteen ja vyötärölihavuuteen liittyvän oheissairastavuuden ennaltaehkäisyssä tupakoinnin ja toistuvan laihduttamisen vähentäminen saattavat olla aiemmin luultua tehokkaampia keinoja.
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The Australian National Mango Breeding Program has been breeding mangoes since 1994. In recent years, evaluation of the elite selection have identified three high performing hybrids, NMBP1243, NMBP1201 and NMBP4069, which are in the process of commercial release. These hybrids all have 'Kensington Pride' as their paternal parent and are characterised by improved fruit colour and tree productivity over 'Kensington Pride'. NMBP1243 is noted for its early season production, and NMBP1201 and NMBP4046 for their firm fruit. The hybrids were produced using hand pollination breeding and selection techniques. The breeding program is ongoing with the current hybridisation program being supported by a multidiscipline approach, that includes marker assisted screening, disease screening, postharvest evaluation and a genomics gene discovery program.
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Key message “To find stable resistance using association mapping tools, QTL with major and minor effects on leaf rust reactions were identified in barley breeding lines by assessing seedlings and adult plants.” Abstract Three hundred and sixty (360) elite barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) breeding lines from the Northern Region Barley Breeding Program in Australia were genotyped with 3,244 polymorphic diversity arrays technology markers and the results used to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) conferring a reaction to leaf rust (Puccinia hordei Otth). The F3:5 (Stage 2) lines were derived or sourced from different geographic origins or hubs of international barley breeding ventures representing two breeding cycles (2009 and 2011 trials) and were evaluated across eight environments for infection type at both seedling and adult plant stages. Association mapping was performed using mean scores for disease reaction, accounting for family effects using the eigenvalues from a matrix of genotype correlations. In this study, 15 QTL were detected; 5 QTL co-located with catalogued leaf rust resistance genes (Rph1, Rph3/19, Rph8/14/15, Rph20, Rph21), 6 QTL aligned with previously reported genomic regions and 4 QTL (3 on chromosome 1H and 1 on 7H) were novel. The adult plant resistance gene Rph20 was identified across the majority of environments and pathotypes. The QTL detected in this study offer opportunities for breeding for more durable resistance to leaf rust through pyramiding multiple genomic regions via marker-assisted selection.
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Key message: Evaluation of resistance toPyrenophora teresf.maculatain barley breeding populations via association mapping revealed a complex genetic architecture comprising a mixture of major and minor effect genes. Abstract: In the search for stable resistance to spot form of net blotch (Pyrenophora teres f. maculata, SFNB), association mapping was conducted on four independent barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) breeding populations comprising a total of 898 unique elite breeding lines from the Northern Region Barley Breeding Program in Australia for discovery of quantitative trait loci (QTL) influencing resistance at seedling and adult plant growth stages. A total of 29 significant QTL were validated across multiple breeding populations, with 22 conferring resistance at both seedling and adult plant growth stages. The remaining 7 QTL conferred resistance at either seedling (2 QTL) or adult plant (5 QTL) growth stages only. These 29 QTL represented 24 unique genomic regions, of which five were found to co-locate with previously identified QTL for SFNB. The results indicated that SFNB resistance is controlled by a large number of QTL varying in effect size with large effects QTL on chromosome 7H. A large proportion of the QTL acted in the same direction for both seedling and adult responses, suggesting that phenotypic selection for SFNB resistance performed at either growth stage could achieve adequate levels of resistance. However, the accumulation of specific resistance alleles on several chromosomes must be considered in molecular breeding selection strategies.