Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Plants in art'

The thesis, titled ‘The Sensorial Invisibility of Plants: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry through Bio Art and Plant Neurobiology’, is an interdisciplinary art practice-related research that focuses on the complexities in recognising plant behaviour. It explores the contradistinction between scientific studies that reveal cognitive capacities in plants and our subjective perceptions where plants appear motionless and devoid of sensation. The difficulties inherent in perceiving plants’ interactions with their environment are concerned with physiological processes in plants, their morphological adaptations and temporal disparities. Thus, techno-scientific interfaces utilising genomic and electrophysiological approaches offer unprecedented scopes to extend our perceptual boundaries and reveal plants’ behavioural qualities. In biological art practices, scientific approaches and methodologies are deployed to empathetically explore intrinsic biological expressions in plants through aesthetics, genetics and electrophysiology. The thesis critically examines issues thrown up when scientific strategies are incorporated into artworks by questioning the role of the interfaces (i.e. green fluorescent protein or electrodes) and their authenticity in revealing aspects of plant responses and expressions. The practical aspects of the research draw on experimental approaches (using time-lapse, fluorescence and nanotechnology) to modulate plant motion into our frame of reference. In doing so, it investigates whether our subjective experience can be consolidated with the sensorial image of plants emerging from the sciences. Accompanying the written thesis is a visual documentation of the research’s practical component in the form of a multimedia DVD.

“In the decomposition of organic/botanic materiality, decayed and decaying exotic weeds are printed and imprinted on the host vessel: The surviving trace becomes a code - a sign - a semiotic map = disjecta membra: being there ... then destroyed... but still remaining.” THE BODY OF VISUAL AND WRITTEN RESEARCH, 'DECOMPOSE', is a cross-disciplinary interrogation, interpreting overlapping meanings in the Botanical Biodegradation of Weeds through Visual Art/Science practices and processes expressed as Text +Paintings. DECOMPOSE validates the Act of Art, Botanical Biodegradation of Weeds, as both: I. An expression of the Subjective, Expansive and Ephemeral nature of Art, Artist and Materials and II. An incarnation of the nature of Time and Sublime Beauty, that articulates, and expands perceptions of Art, Artist and Materials as Text + Paintings. The 'equation': DECAY + WEEDS = BEAUTY expands to encompass key elements in the DECOMPOSE body of research: BOTANICAL BIODEGRADATION + AUSTRALIAN EXOTIC, FERAL and NOXIOUS WEED SPECIES + ARTIST + MATERIALS + ART + SCIENCE + TIME = DECAY-PAINTINGS = RESEARCH = SUBLIME BEAUTY Argued by quantitative and qualitative example, DECOMPOSE is at once: I. Subjective: a conceptual and translative process expressed through the personal vision of the artist. II. Expansive: an interrogation of a single process, at once finite and infinite in meanings and extractions. III. Ephemeral: investigations and results signifying the specific and universal decay of all things.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2004.
A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, Education and Social Sciences, School of Contemporary Arts, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Contemporary Arts. Includes bibliographies. Electronic version minus appendices 2, 3, 4 is also available online at: http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/29745.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2001.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Botanical art consists of a complex combination of scientific fact and aesthetic awareness, and is concerned with more than the realistic representation of a plant and its flowers. It goes beyond the visual description of scientific information and speaks about the contributions artists have made through history to the conventions of both art and science. It contains a unique visual language, conventions which we read intelligently and an evolved tradition, and it is this language and the development of these conventions within the genre of South African botanical art, which this thesis investigates. In South Africa botanical art developed as a direct result of European interest in the flora and the colonisation of this country by the West. A brief history of responses to South African plants is discussed in the Introduction in order to begin to establish an understanding of this tradition and to contextualise the contributions made by 19th-and 20th -century South African botanical artists. Now that postmodernity has called for the reassessment and questioning of 'given truths', alternative ways of assessing botanical art are slowly evolving. Through study and the comparison of botanical art and artists of South Africa their evaluation as artists is reconsidered. This issue of defining art and artists is the subject of Chapter One of this study. Some of the factors that have a bearing on this include: relationships between text and image; art and science; art and illustration; and how society's expectations of gender roles affect the production of botanical art. In order to establish a context from which to discuss plant imagery in South Africa, it is important to study the history and development of botanical art in this country. Chapter Two discusses the emergence and development of this art form and its artists, starting with a short description of people and events from the 1600s and then takes a comprehensive look at developments in the 19th and 20m centuries. For the artists working within the genre of botanical art, the conventions and inventions are often explicitly formulated. It is an art based on the logic, scrutiny and informative tradition of science, where the main objective is to represent a plant's structural essence. Fundamental to our response to botanical art, however, is the style and technique employed by the artist. Chapter Three is devoted to a detailed discussion of the work of selected contemporary South African botanical art and artists. By comparing their work it is possible to establish trends and developments in representation and the role played by mediums and techniques in this highly skilled art form. Since this research has both a theoretical and a practical component, Chapter Four is devoted to discussion of my own work within the botanical art genre. I describe and illustrate several related series of paintings and explore established conventions and ways of developing my own stylistic identity as a botanical artist.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Botaniese kuns bestaan uit 'n komplekse kombinasie van wetenskaplike feite en estetiese bewustheid, en is gemoeid met baie meer as net die realistiese voorstelling van 'n plant en sy blomme. Dit gaan verder as net die blote visuele uitbeelding van wetenskaplike informasie, en behels die bydraes wat kunstenaars deur die geskiedenis tot die konvensies van beide kuns en die wetenskap gemaak het. Botaniese kuns besit 'n unieke visuele taal, konvensies wat intelligent gelees word, en 'n ontwikkelde tradisie. Hierdie tesis ondersoek juis hierdie spesiale taal en ontwikkeling van konvensies binne die genre van Suid-Afrikaanse botaniese kuns. Botaniese kuns in Suid-Afrika het ontwikkel as In direkte gevolg van Europese belangstelling in die flora, en Westerse kolonialisasie van hierdie land. In die Inleidingword daar kortliks gekyk na die geskiedenis van die hantering van Suid-Afrikaanse plante, en het ten doelom eerstens 'n begrip van hierdie tradisie daar te stel, en tweedens om die bydraes van 19de en 20ste eeuse Suid-Afrikaanse botaniese kunstenaars te kontekstualiseer. Sedert Postmodernisme die herevaluering en bevraagtekening van gegewewe waarhede aangewakker het, is die ontwikkeling van alternatiewe maniere van kyk na botaniese kuns stadig besig om plaas te vind. Deur die bestudering en vergelyking van botaniese kuns en kunstenaars van Suid-Afrika, word die botaniese kunstenaar se status as kunstenaar uitgelig. Hierdie kwessie oor die defmieëring van kuns en kunstenaars is die onderwerp van Hoofstuk 1 van hierdie werkstuk. 'n Paar van die faktore wat In invloed op laasgenoemde het, sluit in: verhoudinge tussen beeld en teks; kuns en wetenskap; kuns en illustrasie; en hoe kwessies van geslag soos waargeneem deur die samelewing die produsering van botaniese kuns beïnvloed. Dit is belangrik om die geskiedenis en ontwikkeling van botaniese kuns in Suid-Afrika te bestudeer, sodat daar 'n konteks geskep kan word waarbinne die afbeelding van plante in hierdie land bespreek kan word. Hoofstuk 2 behandel die totstandkoming en ontwikkeling van hierdie kunsvorm en sy kunstenaars, en begin met 'n kort beskrywing van mense en gebeurtenisse van die 1600s wat gevolg word deur 'n uitgebreide kyk na ontwikkelinge gedurende die 19de en 20ste eeue. Vir die kunstenaars wat werk binne die genre van botaniese kuns, is die konvensies en bevindings van die medium dikwels breedvoerig geformuleer. Dit is 'n kunsvorm gebasseer op die logiese, navorsbare en insiggewende tradisie van die wetenskap, waar die hoofdoel die voorstelling van 'n plant se strukturele essensie is. Fundementeel in die benadering tot botaniese kuns is die styl en tegniek wat deur die kunstenaar gebruik word. Hoofstuk 3 word gewy aan 'n gedetailleerde bespreking van die werk van geselekteerde kontemporêre Suid-Afrikaanse bot~iese kuns en kunstenaars. Deur hul werk te vergelyk is dit moontlik om tendense en ontwikkelings in die voorstelling en aanbieding van botaniese kuns te bepaal, en wat die rol van verskillende mediums en tegnieke in hierdie hoogs geskoolde kunsvorm behels. Weens die feit dat hierdie navorsing uit 'n teoretiese en praktiese komponent bestaan, word Hoofstuk 4 gewy aan 'n bespreking van my praktiese werk binne die genre van botaniese kuns. Ek beskryf en illustreer verskeie verwante reekse werke en kyk na bestaande konvensies en die maniere hoe my eie stilistiese identiteit as botaniese kunstenaar kan ontwikkel binne die medium.

Drawing inspiration from Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, this project seeks to incorporate the oxymetaphor, digital photography and photo manipulation into considerations of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. By considering the potential of an earthly site of transition (the cemetery) in relation to Dante's divine spaces, these images consider certain contradictions existing between the cemetery as a manifestation of waiting, permanence, and decay, and its associations with temporality and transition. The cemetery is therefore an oxymoron. It suggests both a beginning and an end; growth and decay; a place of closure and a pace of transition. Although Heaven, Hell and Purgatory have distinct characteristics in these images, there are commonalities between their layered treatments and iconography that unify them as a whole.

This practice-led research project investigates indeterminate aspects of perception related to human vision and postcolonial conditioning. Through an inventive range of lens-based artworks, the research draws parallels between preconscious visual phenomena and the subjective experience of non-indigenous Australians of multiple generations. The resulting body of creative work, New Australian Plants and Animals, can be seen to approach preconscious visual phenomena derived from the physiology of the human eye through the use of primitive photographic lens technology. This process is applied to the subject matter: introduced plants and partially naturalised migrants. This synthesis of subject and materials creates new insights into preconscious vision whilst questioning aspects of colonisation-in-reverse (Tacey, 1995) where the colonised land immeasurably exerts itself on the coloniser’s psyche. The partially naturalised migrant is metaphorically compared to introduced plants in Australia that are found inexplicably to evolve into new species. The research highlights photography’s historic role in falsely maintaining the view that the human eye views the world with a flat, sharp field of focus by revealing how images potentially appear at the back of the human eye before being processed by the mind. The photographic component of the research work can be seen to depart from the contemporary practice of representing cultured landscapes with highly refined technical processes. Instead, the photographs move towards picturing an indeterminate space where the physical world meets the embodied subject through the use of primitive photographic materials. Additionally, by inverting the power of the lens and photographing the coloniser instead of the colonised, this project enabled fresh insights into the postcolonial subject. In line with Paul Carter’s concept of material thinking (2004), this research relies on the ‘intelligence’ of materials to automatically reduce visual phenomena to a preconscious ocular quality whilst metaphorically operating as nineteenth-century colonial survey equipment. A broad range of artists has informed the research, ranging from late nineteenth-century European naturalist painters to contemporary Australian installation artists. The main theorists informing this project are Walter Benjamin, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Edmund Husserl.

Thesis (M.A. (Hons.)) -- University of Western Sydney, 2003.
"A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Honours) Creative Arts, December 2003" Includes bibliography.

Aujourd’hui, la Crète offre une flore riche et en partie unique. Cette thèse a pour objectif d’étudier les plantes dans le monde minoen (Crète et Théra, actuelle Santorin), en identifiant les espèces grâce à divers supports, en analysant les procédés de préparation et les utilisations que les Minoens pouvaient faire de ces plantes. La première partie de notre travail est un catalogue iconographique qui répertorie les plantes dans l’art, les écritures et les analyses scientifiques. Les études publiées jusqu’à présent se concentrent sur l’identification des motifs floraux ou sur une plante spécifique et les relations hommes-plantes ne sont pas ou peu analysées. La particularité de notre démarche est d’être complétée par une analyse contextuelle qui permet de pallier cette lacune. La deuxième partie de nos recherches concerne la préparation des plantes, c’est-à-dire les attentions qu’elles nécessitaient avant d’être utilisées dans la vie quotidienne. Les domaines d’utilisations envisageables étant nombreux, notre étude se focalise sur l’utilisation des plantes dans les cérémonies religieuses et dans l’artisanat du textile
Today, Crete offers a rich and partially unique flora. The aim of this thesis is to study plants in the Minoan world (Crete and Akrotiri, Thera), by identifying the species thanks to diverse media, by analyzing the methods of preparation and uses which Minoans could make of these plants. The first part of our work is an iconographic catalog which lists plants in art, writings and scientific analyses. Previous studies focus on the identification of floral patterns or a specific plant, and relationships between men and plants are not or not much analyzed. The special feature of our approach is to be completed by a contextual analysis which allows to compensate for this gap. The second part of our researches concerns the preparation of plants, that is to say the attention which they required before being used in everyday life. The possible fields being numerous, our study focuses on the use of plants in religion and in textile industry

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Bachelors
Arts and Sciences
Liberal Studies

Enligt forskning har riktig natur och bilder av natur en avstressande effekt på människor i sjukhusmiljö. Stenpartier byggs ofta för att simulera naturliga förhållanden och kan upplevas som en tredimensionell landskapsmålning som förändras med årstidens växlingar. Syftet med denna studie är att komma fram till en gestaltningsskiss med hjälp av sten och stenpartiväxter. Gestaltningen tänkta plats är utanför Gävle sjukhus. Fokus har lagts på stenpartiets uppbyggnad, växternas krav och anpassningen till sjukhusmiljön. För att ta reda på ett stenpartis uppbyggnad och stenpartiväxters krav på växtmiljö har både en litteraturstudie och platsbesök med intervjuer gjorts. Litteraturen är sökt via LIBRIS. Platsbesöken är gjorda i två svenska botaniska trädgårdar där personer med expertkunskaper i ämnet intervjuats. För att få gestaltningens utformning att passa in i en sjukhusmiljö är en litteraturstudie gjord. Litteraturstudien undersöker vad som bör undvikas och vad som rekommenderas. Litteraturen är sökt i databasen Discovery med sökorden hospital and art. För att ta reda på platsens fysiska förutsättningar har en platsobservation gjorts. Ett stenparti som liknar naturen passar bra in i sjukhusmiljön med tanke på att bilder av natur ger positiva känslor. Fördelen med stenpartiet är att bilden av natur blir verklig och kan upplevas av fler sinnen. Om stenpartiet inte sköts blir effekten motsatt. Skötseln är som mest intensiv de första åren men avtar då växterna väl etablerat sig. För att reducera framtida skötselbehov bör växter väljas efter klimatet och platsens förutsättningar. Detta resulterade i att många inhemska växter passade bra till gestaltningsförslaget. I en orolig sjukhusmiljö kan inhemska växter få människor att känna sig hemma. Viktigt är också att välja mattbildande växter som hindrar ogräs från att etablera sig. Erfarenhet av växter, anläggning och skötsel är avgörande om ett stenparti ska kunna bli till bilden av natur.

This thesis attempts to elaborate on my artwork during my graduate studies, while contextualizing it within the framework of the art world and the works of other artists. A main project during this time was to minimize the singular interpretation and framing of a fine art photographic print, while expanding its possibilities of meaning through the addition of important ephemera and objects such as plants, drawings, moving imagery, conversation and the unknown.

FundaÃÃo Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Cientifico e TecnolÃgico
O lÃtex da planta lactÃfera Calotropis procera (Ait.) R. Br. à um composto biologicamente ativo importante que apresenta propriedades relevantes como as atividades antiinflamatÃria e antidiarrÃica, embora jà tenha sido previamente mostrado que esse lÃtex produz efeitos tÃxicos considerÃveis em animais. Um outro fato à que nÃo à sabido, ainda, se as proteÃnas do lÃtex de C. procera produzem efeitos alergÃnicos, assim como as proteÃnas do lÃtex de Hevea brasiliensis. O potencial do lÃtex como um fÃrmaco, por essa razÃo, depende da separaÃÃo das propriedades curativas das propriedades tÃxicas e alergÃnicas, mas nÃo existe investigaÃÃo cientÃfica nessa Ãrea. O presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar aspectos bioquÃmicos, toxicolÃgicos e alergÃnicos do lÃtex da planta C. procera, atravÃs do estudo da digestibilidade in vitro e in vivo, avaliaÃÃo da toxicidade subcrÃnica e aguda por via oral e anÃlise da induÃÃo de resposta imune pelas vias subcutÃnea e oral das suas fraÃÃes. O lÃtex foi fracionado em trÃs fraÃÃes distintas de acordo com a sua solubilidade em Ãgua e tamanho molecular. As fraÃÃes foram assim denominadas: proteÃnas do lÃtex (PL), correspondendo Ãs principais proteÃnas do lÃtex; proteÃnas da diÃlise (PD), representando as substÃncias de baixa massa molecular; e borracha do lÃtex (BL) que à altamente insolÃvel em Ãgua. A fraÃÃo PL foi investigada, com relaÃÃo a alguns aspectos bioquÃmicos, como seu perfil protÃico por PAGE-SDS e anÃlise da composiÃÃo de seus aminoÃcidos. As proteÃnas do lÃtex tambÃm foram submetidas à digestÃo in vitro com as enzimas proteolÃticas pepsina, tripsina, quimiotripsina e protease de Streptomyces griseus e a digestibilidade in vitro foi avaliada por cromatografia de filtraÃÃo em gel ou PAGE-SDS. A digestibilidade in vivo de PL foi analisada quando animais experimentais ingeriram essa fraÃÃo por 35 dias. O volume de PL consumido foi registrado diariamente e amostras das fezes dos animais coletadas, tratadas e submetidas à PAGE-SDS e ensaios de imunodifusÃo radial dupla de Ouchterlony, com anticorpos policlonais contra PL. Com relaÃÃo aos aspectos toxicolÃgicos, a fraÃÃo PL foi oralmente administrada a animais experimentais por 35 dias, para a avaliaÃÃo da toxicidade subcrÃnica. Aumentos na massa corpÃrea foram registrados e amostras sangÃÃneas foram analisadas semanalmente. ApÃs o perÃodo experimental, os animais foram sacrificados e um nÃmero de parÃmetros bioquÃmicos e fisiolÃgicos foram determinados. Esses incluÃram determinaÃÃes sÃricas de glicose sangÃÃnea, colesterol total, HDL-colesterol, triglicerÃdeos, testes da funÃÃo hepÃtica (proteÃnas totais, albumina, alanina aminotransferase â ALT e aspartato aminotransferase â AST), testes da funÃÃo renal (urÃia e creatinina), contagens total e diferencial de leucÃcitos sangÃÃneos e do fluido peritonial e anÃlise das proteÃnas sÃricas por PAGE-SDS. Os animais tiveram seus ÃrgÃos vitais (fÃgado, rins, baÃo, intestino delgado, intestino grosso, pÃncreas e estÃmago) dissecados e as massas frescas relativas foram determinadas. Na avaliaÃÃo da toxicidade aguda, a fraÃÃo PL foi administrada por via oral a animais experimentais e a monitoraÃÃo de alteraÃÃes comportamentais desses animais tambÃm foi realizada. Quanto aos aspectos alergÃnicos, respostas imunolÃgicas do lÃtex de C. procera foram investigadas pelas vias oral e subcutÃnea em camundongos. Anti-soros contra as fraÃÃes PL, PD e BL foram analisados quanto a IgG e IgA por ELISA, enquanto IgE e IgG1 foram monitoradas por anafilaxia cutÃnea passiva (PCA) em ratos e camundongos, respectivamente. Os perfis protÃicos das fraÃÃes PL e BL foram analisados por PAGE-SDS. Com relaÃÃo aos resultados dos aspectos bioquÃmicos, a fraÃÃo PL possui uma quantidade apreciÃvel de proteÃnas, baixo conteÃdo de aminoÃcidos sulfurados (metionina e cisteÃna) e um nÃmero considerÃvel de aminoÃcidos (arginina, lisina, fenilalanina e tirosina) que representam sÃtios de clivagem para as enzimas proteolÃticas animais usadas. A fraÃÃo PL foi digerida pela aÃÃo da pepsina, tripsina e quimiotripsina como revelado por anÃlises de filtraÃÃo em gel e PAGE-SDS. A digestÃo completa das proteÃnas do lÃtex foi facilmente obtida pelo tratamento com a protease de S. griseus. Anticorpos policlonais de coelho produzidos contra PL nÃo apresentaram reaÃÃo cruzada com as molÃculas presentes nas fezes dos ratos experimentais. PadrÃes semelhantes de eletroforese foram observados para as quantidades desprezÃveis de proteÃna observadas nos materiais fecais dos animais controle e experimentais. Quanto aos resultados da avaliaÃÃo da toxicidade subcrÃnica, nenhuma morte foi observada durante o experimento. Animais controle e experimentais apresentaram taxa de crescimento semelhante e os ÃrgÃos vitais exibiram massas frescas relativas similares. As funÃÃes hepÃtica e renal, parÃmetros glicÃmicos e lipidÃmicos sÃricos situaram-se em nÃveis normais. Os padrÃes protÃicos eletroforÃticos dos soros dos animais controle e experimental exibiram perfis muito similares. A fraÃÃo PL nÃo induziu inflamaÃÃo aguda na cavidade peritonial dos ratos, como determinado pelas contagens total e diferencial de leucÃcitos. O resultado mais relevante detectado foi um aparente efeito proliferativo das proteÃnas do lÃtex sobre os linfÃcitos sangÃÃneos que tenderam a aumentar, enquanto os neutrÃfilos permaneceram em nÃvel normal. Deve ser enfatizado que os animais experimentais exibiram comportamento, aspectos morfolÃgicos e bioquÃmicos normais, indicando ser improvÃvel que os mesmos estivessem sob qualquer condiÃÃo patolÃgica ou infecciosa. Portanto, o incremento da populaÃÃo de linfÃcitos no soro sangÃÃneo deve ser atribuÃdo a um efeito notÃvel das proteÃnas do lÃtex e nÃo a qualquer evento prejudicial. A fraÃÃo PL foi incapaz de induzir toxicidade aguda, pois nenhuma mudanÃa comportamental foi observada nos animais experimentais. Com relaÃÃo aos resultados dos aspectos alergÃnicos, nenhuma das fraÃÃes induziu aumentos nos nÃveis de anticorpos, quando os camundongos receberam as fraÃÃes do lÃtex por via oral e, portanto, nÃo desenvolveram alergia. Entretanto, anti-soros de camundongos sensibilizados com PL e BL por administraÃÃo subcutÃnea apresentaram resposta imunolÃgica considerÃvel, e PD nÃo induziu sÃntese de anticorpos. O nÃvel de IgG aumentou consistentemente contra PL e BL, enquanto a resposta de IgA foi detectada unicamente contra PL. PL e BL induziram reaÃÃes de PCA muito fortes, sugerindo que ambas as fraÃÃes contÃm substÃncias do lÃtex envolvidas na alergenicidade. AlÃm disso, a anÃlise protÃica de PL e BL sugere que BL ainda retÃm proteÃnas residuais, co-precipitadas com a borracha, abundantemente encontradas na fraÃÃo PL, que poderiam explicar as alergenicidades semelhantes. Nenhuma reaÃÃo de IgG1 foi detectada em quaisquer dos anti-soros testados. Conclui-se que as proteÃnas do lÃtex foram parcialmente susceptÃveis à proteÃlise em ensaios in vitro e, ou foram digeridas e absorvidas, ou foram absorvidas Ãntegras, quando ingeridas em ensaios in vivo. Eventos tÃxicos ou letalidade associados ao lÃtex, como descritos na literatura, nÃo estÃo relacionados com a fraÃÃo PL. A fraÃÃo PL produziu efeito proliferativo parcial sobre as cÃlulas mononucleadas, principalmente linfÃcitos e nÃo induziu resposta inflamatÃria aguda, quando administrada pela via oral. Efeitos alergÃnicos puderam ser detectados, por via subcutÃnea, com as fraÃÃes PL e BL, e nÃo foram observados por via oral. EvidÃncias para uma possÃvel tolerÃncia sistÃmica Ãs proteÃnas do lÃtex por via oral foram fornecidas. As proteÃnas do lÃtex podem atuar como imunoestimulantes. As proteÃnas do lÃtex permanecem uma fonte interessante de molÃculas biologicamente ativas que devem ser estudadas em detalhe quanto Ãs suas propriedades estruturais, funcionais e aplicativas.
The latex of the lactiferous plant Calotropis procera (Ait.) R. Br. is an important biologically active compound that displays relevant properties like antiinflammatory and antidiarrhea activities, although the latex has previously been shown to produce considerable toxic effects on animals. Another question is that it is not known yet whether the latex proteins from C. procera induce allergenic effects, just like the latex proteins from Hevea brasiliensis. The potential of the latex as a pharmaceutical, therefore, depends on separating the curative properties from the toxic and allergenic properties, but there has been a lack of scientific investigation in this area. The objective of the present study was to investigate biochemical, toxicological and allergenic aspects of the latex from the plant C. procera, through the study of in vitro and in vivo digestibility, evaluation of acute and subchronic toxicity by oral route, and analysis of immune response induction by subcutaneous and oral route of its fractions. The latex was fractionated into three distinct fractions according to their water solubility and molecular size. The fractions were named as: latex proteins (LP), corresponding to the major latex proteins; dialysis proteins (DP), representing low molecular size substances; and rubber latex (RL), which was highly insoluble in water. LP fraction was investigated in some biochemical aspects, like its protein profile by SDS-PAGE analysis and its amino acid composition determination. Latex proteins were also subjected to in vitro digestion with trypsin, chemotrypsin, pepsin and Streptomyces griseus protease and in vitro digestibility was evaluated by gel filtration and SDS-PAGE analysis. The in vivo digestibility of LP was analyzed when experimental animals ingested this fraction for 35 days. The volume uptake of LP was recorded daily and samples of fecal material from animals were collected, treated and submitted to SDS-PAGE analysis and radial double immunodifusion assays, with polyclonal antibodies raised against LP. In relation to toxicological aspects, LP fraction was orally administered to experimental animals for 35 days, to allow subchronic toxicity evaluation. Increases in body mass were recorded and blood samples were analyzed weekly. After the test period, the animals were sacrificed and a number of biochemical and physiological parameters determined. These included sera determinations of blood glucose, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, hepatic function tests (total proteins, albumin, alanine aminotransferase â ALT and aspartate aminotransferase â AST), renal function tests (urea and creatinin), total and differential leukocyte counts in blood and peritoneal fluid and analysis of sera proteins by SDS-PAGE. Animals had internal key organs (liver, kidneys, spleen, small intestine, large intestine, pancreas and stomach) dissected and the relative fresh masses were determined. In the acute toxicity evaluation, LP fraction was administered by oral route to experimental animals and behavioral changes in animals were also monitored. With reference to allergenic aspects, immunological responses of latex from C. procera were investigated by oral and subcutaneous routes in mice. Anti-sera against LP, DP and RL fractions were assayed for IgG and IgA titration by ELISA, while IgE and IgG1 were accessed by passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) in rats and mice, respectively. Protein profiles of LP and RL fractions were analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Concerning biochemical aspects results, LP fraction possesses appreciable amount of protein, low content of sulphurated amino acids (methionine and cysteine) and a considerable number of amino acids (arginine, lysine, phenylalanine and tyrosine) that represent cleavage sites to animal proteolytic enzymes studied. LP fraction was digested by the action of pepsin, trypsin and chemotrypsin as revealed by gel filtration and SDS-PAGE analyses. The full LP digestion was easily achieved by S. griseus protease treatment. Rabbit polyclonal antibodies raised against LP failed to detect cross-reactive molecules in faeces of experimental rats. Similar patterns of electrophoresis were observed for the negligible amounts of protein observed in the fecal materials of control and test animals. With relation to subchronic toxicity evaluation results, no death was observed during the experiment. Experimental and control animals presented similar growth rate and key organs exhibited similar relative fresh masses. Hepatic and renal functions, sera glycemic and lipidemic parameters were determined to be at normal levels. Likewise, the electrophoretic protein patterns of sera from untreated and treated animals exhibited quite similar profiles. Uptake of latex proteins did not induce acute inflammation into peritoneal cavity of rats as determined by the total and differential leukocytes counts. The most relevant result discovered was an apparent proliferative effect of the latex proteins upon blood lymphocytes that tended to increase, whilst neutrophils remained at normal level. It should be emphasized that the experimental rats were normal in their behavior, morphological and biochemical aspects, indicating that it is unlikely that they were under any pathological or infectious condition. Therefore, the increment of lymphocytes population in the blood serum should be attributed to the staking effect of the latex proteins rather than any harmful event. LP fraction was unable of presenting acute toxicity in experimental animals, because no behavioral changes in animals were observed. Concerning allergenic aspects results, none of the fractions induced antibodies level increases when mice received latex fractions by oral route and thus, did not develop allergy. Nonetheless, anti-sera of mice sensitized with LP and RL by subcutaneous administration displayed considerable immunological response, while DP did not induce antibodies synthesis. IgG level augmented consistently against LP and RL, while IgA response was detected to LP solely. LP and RL induced very strong PCA reactions suggesting that both fractions would contain latex substances involved in allergenicity. Furthermore, protein analysis of LP and RL suggests that RL still retain residual proteins, co-precipitated with rubber, abundantly found in LP, that could explain its similar allergenicity. No IgG1 reaction was detected in any of the anti-sera tested. It can be concluded that latex proteins were partially susceptible to digestive proteolysis when accessed by in vitro assays, and were digested and absorbed, or were absorbed in its intact form, when ingested and analyzed by in vivo tests. Toxic events or lethality associated with latex, as described in the literature, are not related to LP fraction. Latex proteins produced partial proliferative effect upon mononuclear cells, mainly lymphocytes and did not induce an acute inflammatory response, when administered by oral route. Allergenic effects could be detected, by subcutaneous route, with LP and RL fractions, and were not observed by oral route. Evidences for an inducible tolerance acquired to latex proteins by oral route were provided. Latex proteins may act as immune stimulants. The proteins from the latex remain an interesting source of biologically active molecules that should be studied in detail for their structural, functional and applicative properties.

This thesis examines Greater Melbourne’s indigenous plants movement from the 1930s to the early twenty first century. It demonstrates the important scientific and educational role of the public intellectual, Professor John Turner, and of the Melbourne University Botany School which he led for thirty five years. The case study of the movement within the City of Sandringham and its successor the City of Bayside reveals how the inhabitants of an urbanised are responded to threats to the indigenous trees and wildflowers of their neighbourhood, stimulating botanists to assist them and using political means in order to achieve their conservation objectives. The thesis draws upon a range of local archives, conservation literature and private papers.

The scale of people being infected by HIV/AIDS (Human Immunodeficiency Virus /Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) has meant that the family and the community have had to become involved in caring for the sick (Van Dyk, 2005). This has inevitably led to the emergence of informal caregivers in the form of family members caring for their relatives (Kipp, Nkosi, Laing & Jhangri, 2006). The research investigated the social learning of women caregivers looking after people living with HIV/AIDS, with emphasis on caregiving practices related to how they use traditional foods and medicinal plants. The research was undertaken in Grahamstown at the Raphael Centre and in Hamburg at Keiskkamma Health Centre and Art Project, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Data was collected using interviews, focus group discussions and diaries written by participants. The data was analyzed in two phases: the first phase involved reading the interview transcripts and collating the responses into analytical memos that were captured into broad categories, while the second phase made use of the community of practice analytical framework to further analyze the data to get better understanding of the social learning processes. This study reveals that participating in a community of practice like Raphael Centre and Keiskamma Health Centre enables caregivers to learn about caregiving. It also reveals that within these communities of practice there are varied learning processes that take place, such as observational and collaborative learning. The research also revealed that caregivers learn from the communities from which they come, for example caregivers learn about traditional food and medicinal plants which they use from their family members, friends, other caregivers as well as non governmental organizations. The research found that caregivers are influenced in their learning and practices by a number of factors which include their own experiences, ambivalent messages from different stakeholders concerned with fighting HIV/AIDS and exposure to new information. The research recommends that diverse learning processes in a community of practice and outside a community of practice should be encouraged and strengthened. It also recommends that HIV/AIDS caregiving options should be strengthened by drawing on experience and knowledge of caregivers. Caregivers should be encouraged to be selfsustaining to improve their caregiving practices. Stakeholders in the field of HIV/AIDS should be alert to and address ambivalence on use of medicinal plants. Existing programmes that enable women to learn about new information on HIV/AIDS should be strengthened.

This thesis accompanies a portfolio of site specific sound art installations that were delivered in the UK, Europe and South America between 2012 and 2016. The principle focus of the research is to combine plant electrophysiology and sonic art with a particular emphasis on spatial audio. By using networks of electrodes, audio spatialisation and various artistic techniques, electrical activity in the biosphere was made tangible through sound in real-time. Installations based on this research were presented at public events, immersing listeners in the complexity of these processes. Bespoke software was created to meet creative and technical objectives. Sound installations were created that were designed to stand as works of art in their own right regardless of whether or not the audience knew there was a scientific component to the piece; at the same time new approaches to monitoring electrical activity in plants were developed. A description of how these two elements are combined and how scientific needs influence artistic work and vice versa is given. The principle object of this research is not to gather qualitative or quantitative data, but to convert signals into sound in real-time and create art installations that engender a space where independent elements of both disciplines can merge as well as develop independently from each other. Technical and artistic gaps in the field are identified through the literature review and addressed in the installations. The software created forms a bridge between the creative and the technical side of the research and is described by means of videos. This commentary is accompanied by a USB stick that has relevant software and audio documentation. It also includes an offline website which contains important information such as videos, and is referred to throughout the text and forms an essential component of the thesis.

Several reports appear in the literature linking low temperature damage in plants with boron (B) deficiency and alleviation of low temperature injury with B application has been reported in some crops and trees. These results imply that low temperature might increase plant B requirements, beside the reduction of B uptake by plant roots, or that low B tissues might be more sensitive to cold temperature damage than B adequate tissues. In controlled experiments, it has been shown that low root zone temperature (RZT) induces B deficiency in cassava, a tropical root crop. Apart from this, there are few definitive detailed investigations on low temperature effects on B nutrition of plants, including temperate species which are more tolerant of low temperature. Winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.), a crop sensitive to low B supply, is a major crop in the middle and lower Yangtse river basin, China, where low B soils are widespread. Appearance of B deficiency in oilseed rape often coincides with cold weather during its winter and spring growth. However, the incidence and severity of B deficiency of oilseed rape plants and the efficacy of B fertilization varies from year to year and location to location in ways that are not explained simply by differences in cultivar, agronomy or soil B levels. Low temperature is probably one of the important environmental factors influencing growth and yield of oilseed rape in relation to B nutrition. Therefore,the objective of the studies in this thesis was to investigate mechanisms of low temperature effects on B nutrition of plants with emphasis on oilseed rape. Field and glasshouse experiments were carried out and the physiological basis of plant response to B at different air and root temperatures is discussed. A field experiment with oilseed rape cv. Zheyouyou 2 was carried out on a red soil (Hapludult, US Soil Taxonomy) with low B availability in Zhejiang province, China. Canopy covers made from transparent plastic sheets, which increased night temperatures by up to 1.5 oC around shoots for 15 days in early February, strongly increased shoot dry weight at all levels of B supply. Furthermore, covering plants increased shoot dry weight of B deficient plants without increasing their leaf B concentration. This suggests that internal B requirements were decreased by canopy covering, possibly due to higher temperatures within the canopy. Experiments conducted to investigate the effect of RZT (10 and 20ƒn oC) on oilseed rape cv. Hyola 42 response to B in solution culture, in summer and winter, showed that regardless of canopy conditions, low RZT (10 oC) promoted the distribution of shoot B towards the actively growing leaves, especially when B supply was low. At low B supply, B deficiency symptoms appeared later at 10 oC than 20 oC RZT and B concentrations in the youngest fully opened leaves (YOL) were higher in plants grown at RZT of 10 oC than that at 20 oC. Growth of plant dry weight (DW) was not affected by RZT in the summer but was greatly reduced at 10 oC than 20 oC in winter. In B adequate plants, shoot to root ratio (S/R ratio) was not affected by RZT regardless of canopy conditions. By contrast, S/R ratio was smaller in low B plants at 10 oC than 20 oC. In addition, low RZT delayed occurrence of plant B deficiency symptoms regardless of plants¡¦ pre-treatment RZT (either 10 or 20 oC). These results appeared to contradict the response to low RZT found in previous studies with cassava. In a subsequent experiment, low RZT of 5 oC not only greatly reduced plant DW production of oilseed rape, but also accentuated plant B deficiency. Partitioning of B into the young growing shoots was also depressed and a significant decrease of B concentration in the youngest shoot parts was caused by 5 oC RZT in comparison with that at the control RZT (10 oC). Similar results were also observed in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L. cv. Hysun 25). But B deficiency symptoms in sunflower were induced by RZT as high as 12 oC, when plants were supplied with 0.25 £gM B, whilst these plants were free from B deficiency at warmer RZT (17 - 27 oC). Higher external B concentrations were required at such RZT (Chilling temperature) for plant growth free from B deficiency. Therefore, there is a RZT threshold below which an increased response to B is expected in plants of oilseed rape and sunflower. And in the range of chilling RZT, the external B requirement for shoot growth increased with lower RZT. The threshold RZT was considerably higher in the chilling-sensitive plant species, sunflower, than in oilseed rape, a chilling-resistant plant species. At chilling RZT, leaf functioning was impaired by low B supply as measured by potassium (K) leakage from the youngest mature leaf blade (YML) of sunflower, whereas it was much less directly affected by RZT, and there was no effect of RZT on B- adequate plants. By contrast to leaves, root function was impaired more by chilling RZT than low B. Despite their different threshold RZT, in both oilseed rape and sunflower, the rates of B uptake (BUR) and B translocation from root to shoot (BTR) were dramatically depressed by chilling RZT especially at low B supply (0.2 £gM B): being only 30% of those at the control (5 oC vs 10 oC RZT) in oilseed rape and 33% (10 oC vs 20 oC RZT) in sunflower, respectively. By contrast, there was little or no difference over a range of warmer RZT (10 - 20 oC for oilseed rape, and 20 ¡V 27 oC for sunflower). It is predicted that higher rates of B application will be required for plant growth when soil temperature is below a critical threshold, which is between 5 and 10 oC for oilseed rape, and about 17 oC for sunflower, respectively. Below the threshold RZT plant B deficiency was induced and accentuated due to impairment of B translocation into growing shoot parts besides the decrease of B uptake rate and B transport rate and greater shoot to root ratio. In comparison with RZT, little is known about causal mechanisms linking cold air temperature and B nutrition. Experiments in this thesis showed not only B transport to the shoot was strongly reduced by low night air temperature during a 6 day period (11.719.4 vs 15.5 ¡V 23.5 oC), but also that an overnight chilling (at 0 oC) could cause more severe injury to low B than adequate B leaves of oilseed rape plants, expressed by higher solute leakage, in comparison with control (at 10 oC). Moreover, after chilling treatment, solute leakage from low B leaves was increased by exposure to light, which suggests that low temperature injury to leaves in low B plants after a freezing night in the field is at least partly a consequence of light induced damage of leaves. In summary, at chilling temperature, B uptake, transport and partitioning into growing shoots are strongly impaired, and B use efficiency in the growing tissues might be reduced as well. Low temperature contributes to plant B deficiency also by increasing S/R ratio, so that shoot B demand is not satisfied by available B. Furthermore, low air temperature might increase the internal B requirement for shoot growth. To further understand mechanisms of low temperature, especially the air temperature, effects on plant responses to B, more research is needed, such as the relationship between low temperature and B incorporation into cell walls which may play an important role in leaf tolerance to chilling temperature.

In this study, both physiological and cellular effects are elicited by natriuretic peptides (NPs), a novel type of plant hormone. It was found that rat ANP (rANP) influenced stomatal opening movement in Tradescantia sp., where a significant increase in stomatal opening was observed in the presence of 1 µM rANP. Furthermore, this effect is mediated by cGMP, a (putative) second messenger of NPs. Two inhibitors of guanylyl cyclase, LY 83583 and methylene blue, inhibited rANP-induced stomatal opening. In contrast, stomatal opening is induced in a concentration dependent manner by the cell permeant cGMP analogue 8-Br-cGMP. In addition it was found, that like in animals, the secondary structure of rANP is essential for rANP responses. Linearised rANP is biologically inactive. Since ANP elicit plant responses, an attempt was made to isolate NP analogues from plants. A protocol for partially purifying NP from plants was developed. It was found that two fractions eluted from an immunoaffinity chromatography column (0.5 M KCI eluted fraction and 0.75 M KCI eluted fraction) were biologically active. The level of cGMP in response to NPs was also tested. It is suggested that the receptor of NP is specific since only 0.75 M KCI eluted fractions increased cGMP levels in Zea mays root stele tissue. rANP did not elicit an effect on cGMP levels in this tissue and LY 83583 did not affect this response. It is therefore argued that a plant specific biologically active NP system is present in the stele and it is predicted that NPs modulate solute movement in this tissue. NPs also influence K⁺, Na⁺ and H⁺ fluxes in Zea mays root stele. Increase in both K⁺ and Na+ uptake were observed after 30 min., while H⁺ flux shifted immediately toward influx in the presence of both 0.5 and 0.75 KCI eluted fractions. Finally, a model is proposed for the effect of NPs on solute movement and its signalling system in plants.

[Truncated abstract] The mitochondrion is the energy powerhouse that provide energy to many metabolic functions in the form of ATP. Mitochondria in plants are also known to carry out a variety of other important biochemical processes within the cell, including the anaplerotic function of tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, one-carbon metabolism and portions of photorespiration. Dynamics of the mitochondrial proteome in plants underlies fundamental differences in the roles of these organelles under different developmental and environmental conditions. A quantitative comparative proteomic approach was carried out to analyze mitochondria isolated from non-photosynthetic models, cell culture and root, and compared them to mitochondria isolated from photosynthetic shoots. The glycinedependent respiration rate and the protein abundance of the photorespiratory apparatus was found to be higher in shoot than cell culture and root mitochondria. Also, there were major differences in the abundance and/or activities of enzymes in the TCA cycle between the three systems examined. The metabolic pathways that relied on the supply of intermediates from TCA cycle and photorespiration were also altered, namely cysteine, formate and one-carbon metabolism, as well as amino acid metabolism focused on 2-oxoglutarate generation, and branched-chain amino acids degradation. To further provide insight into the extent of mitochondrial heterogeneity in plants, mitochondria isolated from six organ/cell types, leaf, root, cell culture, flower, stem and silique were analyzed. Of the 251 protein spots on a 2D-gel of the mitochondrial soluble/matrix fraction, the abundance of 213 spots were significantly varied between different samples. Identification of these spots revealed a non-redundant set of 79 proteins which were differentially expressed between organ/cell types. ... Importantly, posttranslational modifications played a significant role in the dynamics of the leaf mitochondrial proteome during the diurnal cycle. Overall, these findings indicated that the mitochondrial proteome is dynamic in order to fulfil different functional and physiological requirements in response to organspecific growth and changes in the external environments. These results also indicated that the majority of the changes in the mitochondrial proteome occurred in the matrix and suggested differences in substrate choice/availability in various plant organs and during the diurnal cycle. Further, these analyses demonstrate that, while mitochondrial proteins are regulated transcriptionally by the nucleus, post-transcriptional regulation and/or post-translational modifications play a vital role in modulating the activation state and/or regulation of proteins in key biochemical pathways in plant mitochondria. The integration of proteomics data with respiratory measurements, enzyme assays and transcript datasets will allow the identification of organ-enhanced and/or light/darkresponsive metabolic pathways as well as providing potential targets for reverse genetic approaches for further functional analysis of plant mitochondria.

The main goal of this project is to design the experience of motion along a mixed-use arterial roadway as a work of art. The research component of this project proposes to determine the influences on the experience of traveling along a road, the key components of environmental art, and how these can be combined to enhance the driving experience. This project will focus on the section of McGalliard Road from Morrison Road to Walnut Street, in Muncie, Indiana.McGalliard Road is one of Muncie's most heavily traveled roads. If one examines its length, the unorganized fashion in which the street has developed is readily apparent. Different and often conflicting uses are scattered up and down the road, in a spectrum ranging from rural/ agricultural to residential to commercial. The result is a confusing sequence of buildings and spaces with little or no focus. Thousands of people use roads similar to McGalliard in their everyday life. Generally the experience of driving these roads is mundane, involving countless parking lots, stores, and chain restaurants. By utilizing the principles of environmental art in the redesign of the experience of a mixed-use arterial roadway, the user's experiences can be greatly enhanced and the road can be infused with a new identity and meaning with which peoplecan identify and take pride.The user's experience of a mixed-use arterial roadway is the main issue I plan to examine in this project. When driving on a highway the sense of motion, space, and sequence is dominant. These sensations are most affected by objects passing overhead and near the roadside (Appleyard, 1966). The primary objects in the user's view are signs, telephone poles, and other vehicles, with nearly nothing overhead.Roads are an integral component of a city's fabric, one of its most intensely used public spaces, which provide linkages between different parts of a city (Moughtin, 1992). A successful road is one that captures the attention of its user. Without this, the user's attention can begin to wander and the experience becomes uninteresting. McGalliard Road has little to catch or hold the user's attention. The nearby surroundings consist mainly of signs, large parking lots, or buildings set far back from the street with nothing to focus the driver's attention. In redesigning the experience a user has while traveling along McGalliard Road, it is important to work with these elements in the near roadside environment, utilizing their attributes in the creation of an experiential work of art.Art has the potential to add another layer to the experience of the landscape, instilling it with new meaning. Works of environmental art are bound to their site and take a large part of their content from the relationship they have with the characteristics of their surrounding sites (Beardsley, 1998), thus drawing meaning directly from the surrounding landscape and culture. Ultimately the success of a city depends on the success of its roads. Art can enhance both the experience of a road, city, and the lives of its citizens. Integrating commercialism, art, and the driving experience, the designer can create a unique experience in which the user is an integral component in the design.
Department of Landscape Architecture

Artist Statement I forget my keys and usually misplace my telephone but I know exactly where my camera is at any given moment. I capture moments for my artwork as well as my own personal benefit. Not all the images will be translated into paint or clay and not all the images are those filled with beauty. However, a bicycle leaning on the corner of a house in Key West and a two hundred dollar pair of shoes from when I was single are a few of the memories that evolved from snapshot to artwork. My photographs inspire my colorful paintings and patterned clay work. I use them as a way to document my personal journeys and evolution of my life.

Informationskoncept om kommunikation och tjänster för Stockholm Stadsom skall kunna tas i bruk år 2010, året då Stockholm har som mål att varavärldens tillgängligaste stad. Konceptet består av "huvudstationer" vid vilkaman kan genom att peka på en dataskärm får information om hur man tarsig från en plats till en annan. Stationerna är placerade på frekvent besöktaplatser i staden, så som tunnelbanestationer, torg, gallerior, parker mm. Påplatser där det inte rör sig folk i samma utsträckning finns det #mellanstationer#med karta och info om närliggande kommunikationer. För att hittatill respektive #huvudstation# finns även markeringar i marken i form av enpil av metall och glas ur vilken det strålar ljus. För att få med sig den söktainformationen kan man välja att antingen ladda ner den till sin mobil medhjälp av bluetooth, eller genom att skriva ut ett kort på vilken all sökt informationsamlas på den ena sidan. På andra sidan av kortet finns en illustrationav platsen där stationen är placerad med trevlig "stockholmskuriosa"som är attraktivt för turister.

An effort to understand the basic contextual foundation of environmental art design in relation to site-specific context. As a result of this understanding, environmental artwork designs will be developed based upon the context of chosen sites on the Ball State University's campus with a view toward the development of greater visual literacy. The work effort includes a preliminary exploration of the methods and approaches followed by contemporary designers (including artists, landscape architects, landscape designers, and architects) in the design and execution of environmental art works that have a contextual relationship to a site. This exploration focuses upon Post World War II outdoor installations intended for public viewing and/or interaction. Context of Project WorkThe first step consists of information gathering about professional designers, including landscape architects, artists, landscape designers, and architects, who design outdoor environmental artworks based upon the context of a site. This information will include literature search, site visits, case studies, and possible interviews with designers.This information will then be distilled into sketch designs of environmental art pieces that can be sited on the Ball State University's campus. The designs produced for the artworks will be based upon the information gathered about various designers with attention to the preservation of the stylistic influences from the artists while deleting the possibility of repetition of previous artworks.The work of research on artists and projects will result in an expanded knowledge base from which a group of three or four designers will be selected to serve as exemplars or a case study foundation for the design effort.It is expected that the entire effort will serve as a model of an apprenticeship in outdoor art and site design for a non-art major pursuing a Master of Landscape Architecture degree. In addition, the work effort will serve to promote visual literacy in the Ball State University campus as well as to provide suggestions for physical designers on the placement and execution of site specific outdoor art.
Department of Landscape Architecture

The present master thesis provides the reader with overall and detailed review of jurisdiction of the CJEU in correlation with primary and secondary law of the European Union regarding justification of restrictions on imports or exports of goods on the grounds of the protection of health and life of humans, animals or plants pursuant to the art.36 of TFEU. The very first part deals with the essence of the free movement goods. It explains the concept of the prohibition on custom duties on imports and exports and charges having equivalent effect and quantitative restrictions on imports and exports and all measures having equivalent effect. Simultaneously this part demonstrates the application of the art.36 of TFEU and presents mandatory requirements and their purpose. The second part clarifies the concept of goods according to the European Union law, examples and provides proper definition. The third part presents the core of the thesis. It is subdivided into more than 10 parts. It contains explanations regarding principle of proportionality, protection of health and life of humans, total bans, precautionary principle, sufficiently rigorous risk assessment doctrine, protection of health and life of animals, prohibition on use, labeling requirements, or protection of the environment. The most relevant and most widely-known cases were chosen and analyzed in order to present the approach of the CJEU to the disputable measures and their justifications.
Šis baigiamasis magistro darbas suteikia skaitytojui bendrą, visaapimančią ir išsamią ESTT jurisdikcijos apžvalgą dėl importo ir eksporto prekių ribojimo pagrįstumo sąlygų žmonių, gyvūnų ar augalų sveikatos bei gyvybės apsaugos tikslais pagal SESV 36 straipsnį, remiantis pirminiais bei antriniais Europos Sąjungos teisės aktais. Pirmojoje dalyje kalbama apie laisvo prekių judėjimo esmę. Čia paaiškinama importo ir eksporto muitų bei lygiaverčio poveikio mokėjimų bei kiekybinių importo ir eksporto apribojimų bei lygiaverčio poveikio priemonių draudimo koncepcija. Taip pat, ši dalis pademonstruoja SESV 36 str. veikimą, pabrėžiant privalomuosius reikalavimus bei jų tikslus. Antrojoje dalis paaiškina prekių sampratą remiantis Europos Sąjungos teise,pateikia pavyzdžių bei deramą apibrėžimą. Trečiojoje dalyje pateiktas baigiamojo magistro darbo pagrindas. Ši dalis yra suskirstyta į daugiau kaip 10 dalių. Čia yra sutelkti paaiškinimai dėl proporcingumo principo, žmonių sveikatos ir gyvybės apsaugos, visiško draudimo, atsargumo principo, pakankamai griežtos rizikos vertinimo doktrinos, gyvūnų sveikatos ir gyvybės apsaugos, naudojimo draudimo, ženklinimo reikalavimų bei aplinkos apsaugos. Siekiant pristatyti ESTT požiūrį į abejotinas priemones bei ribojimo pagrįstumo sąlygas yra analizuojamios aktualiausios ir plačiausiai žinomos bylos.

Using plants as a basis for exploring the interstices between the human and nonhuman, this thesis investigates ideas of awareness, intelligence, deep time, animism, and the fluctuating human perception of the agency of Nature. It outlines environmental art practices since the 1950s involving vegetal life. In addition, the paper provides a critical analysis of plant perception of Jakob von Uexküll’s work and theories of vital materialism and “critical plant studies” while noting recent studies in plant neurobiology. In my work, plants become active participants via their movement, seeding, and smell. This study takes the form of imitation, purposeful symbiosis, anthropomorphism, and touch and uses an interdisciplinary practice involving various experiments, video, and plant life. In suggesting a new possible understanding of plants, the work argues for a new ecological ethos in a time when global warming weighs heavily on world policy and consciousness.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, Macarthur, 2001.
A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, December, 2001. Bibliography : leaves 163-173.

Plastid division, sustained by the equilibrium expression and coordination of plastid division genes is vital for the maintenance of plastid populations in dividing plant cells. Macrochloroplasts (MCP), the occurrence of one or a few chloroplasts per cell is due to the imbalance in the expression of plastid division genes. Because of the MCP size and number it was proposed that they may provide better targets for the plastid transformation than the normal (WT) chloroplasts and result in better plastid transformation frequencies. The objective of this research was to produce transgenic plants containing macrochloroplasts by nuclear transformation and then to use these plants as a model for the development of plastid transformation of crop species. By using AtFtsZ1-1 and AtMinD1 as query sequences in the TIGR (U.S.A) and ASTRA (Australia) Brassica oleracea EST databases, this project resulted in the isolation of cauliflower FtsZ1-1 (EU684588) and MinD (EU684589) genes. In addition, AtFtsZ1-1 was used as a control gene for comparison to the cauliflower FtsZ1-1. Binary vectors were constructed to express these genes in tobacco and cauliflower either by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated or PEG-mediated transformation methods. Transgenic tobacco and cauliflower plants with abnormal chloroplasts (MCP, minichloroplasts, honeycomb or doughnut shaped chloroplasts, uneven surface membrane chloroplasts) were developed. Furthermore, the transgenic tobacco and cauliflower plants were examined by PCR, RT-PCR and Southern blotting. In addition, th ese plants were also analysed for the different abnormal chloroplast phenotypes by fluorescence microscopy. This project also generated the first plastid transformants from macrochloroplast bearing tobacco plants via biolistics. After one round of regeneration homoplasmic plastid transformants were obtained from both WT chloroplast and MCP tobacco plants. The homoplasmic nature of plastid transformants were confirmed by PCR and Southern blotting. Plastid expression of GFP in WT and MCP was confirmed by fluorescence/confocal microscopy and western blot analysis. This project showed for the first time the characterisation of cauliflower FtsZ1-1 and MinD plastid division genes in homologous and heterologous systems (cauliflower and tobacco). Moreover, obtaining homoplasmic plastid transformant shoots from one round of regeneration from the MCP containing tobacco plants is reported for the first time in this study. In addition this study explored the effect of transgene expression level on the chloroplast abnormality, highlighting the importance of analysing transgenic tobacco and cauliflower plants at the protein lev el specifically with regard to plastid division genes. The maintenance of MCP phenotype in the regenerated shoots and the requirement of standardisation of MCP containing plants via biolistics for increasing the plastid transformation frequency were also examined.

It is estimated that over 200,000 Australians have problem or chronic wounds at any one time (Australian Wound Management Association, 2008). Over the past 4 decades while there has been significant advancement in wound care, a high proportion of wounds become chronic. Despite the availability of wound care resources and specialist services, there remains an inconsistency in the management of chronic wounds that impacts both on the quality of life of individuals with chronic wounds and the health care budget (Harding 2002). Using a Grounded theory approach, the aim of this study was to explore and describe the impact of living with a chronic wound and findings indicate that individuals living with a chronic wound are receiving conflicting or inappropriate advice and care. Individuals living with a chronic wound experience a life of uncertainty related to the struggle to endure a wounded body and the layers of professional care they receive. When they are provided with conflicting or inappropriate advice and treatment, inconsistencies of care and poor coordination of care, layers of unnecessary burden are added to their experience. The uncertainty and dissonance individuals are faced with, leads them to question their care, themselves and the expertise and professionalism of their treating health professionals. As a result, they experienced a loss of respect and trust for their treating health professionals and a loss of confidence in their care. Chronic wounds impose of individuals, an intense burden of physical suffering, cause major disruption to the normality of their lives, and often entail a constant personal struggle to secure appropriate care and understanding from their treating health professionals. In order to enable individuals living with chronic wounds to develop appropriate coping strategies, it is essential that health professionals: understand the burden of suffering associated with living with a chronic wound; ensure that they develop and maintain a high level of knowledge with regards to contemporary wound care practices; ensure that their clientele are provided with high quality care information that is based on the best available evidence; ensure continuity of care; and foster quality professional-client relationships that negates the need for individuals to have to constantly question their care.

The growth of the wetland plants, Phragmites communis, Mentha aquatica, Phalaris arund. nacea, Juncus effusus, and Oenanthe crocata were all significantly reduced when grown in dry soil and/or with competition from L. perenne in a glasshouse. The interaction of water stress with competition caused the greatest reduction in growth. Nitrate reductase activity was highest in those wetland plants grown in soil with minimum watering. Results from field trials, indicated that the spread of M. aquatica and P. arundinacea was restricted because of competition from other naturally occuring species, whereas P. communis was not. Levels of nutrients in glasshouse grown plants did not vary with watering regime or competition from L. perenne. In the field, levels of N and P were lower in the wetland species from drier soils. Particle size of the soil did not restrict the growth of the above wetland species in comparison to a mesophyte (Zea mays). Increased bulk density restricted root growth of Z. mays to a greater extent than the wetland species. When the above wetland plants and Z. mays were grown in tubes that were slowly droughted, Z. mays was less affected by water stress compared to the wetland species. Z. mays had lower stomatal conductance, greater photosynthetic rates, and less negative leaf water potentials than the wetland species. Z. mays also had much faster and deeper root growth. In contrast root growth of P. communis and M. aquatica were restricted by a relatively small drop in soil water potential. P. arundinacea had greater root growth rates than the other wetland species, but its roots were restricted to the surface soil layers. Few adventitious roots formed on the wetland species even in fully watered controls. Leaf water potentials were more negative than expected in the wetland species and in particular P. communis, in comparison to usual values for mesophytes. Investigations showed that this was not an artifact of the psychrometer measurements. Calculated hydraulic resistance was high in P. communis. Metaxylem vessels had smaller diameters and were less abundant in many parts of the wetland species compared to Z. mays. P. communis had more negative leaf water potentials in intact plants compared to excised leaves or stems suggesting existance of high hydraulic resistance in the root or rhizome system. In addition this species showed a loss of water from the leaves at night. The above factors were thought to contribute to the negative leaf water potentials of the wetland species.