Browsing by Subject "Root"
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Item The Arabic verb : root and stem and their contribution to verb meaning(2011-12) Glanville, Peter John; Brustad, Kristen; Al-Batal, Mahmoud; Mohammad, Mohammad A.; Wechsler, Stephen; Beavers, John T.This dissertation is a study of the construction of meaning below the word level, specifically how roots and morphemes combine to create verbs, and the contribution of each to the meaning that a verb construes. It uses data from the verb system of Modern Standard Arabic to bring together the theory that roots combine with different structures to produce verbs describing different types of event, and the observation that many roots cannot form verbs on their own, and must combine with other morphemes do to so. The thesis is that Arabic roots lexicalize events, states or things, but remain free to create new meaning in combination with the different verb stems of Arabic, each of which contains one or more morphemes that determine the type of event that a root may come to describe. The findings are that the morphemes present in the different verb stems of Arabic condition verb meaning in four main ways: through reflexivization; through providing an Actor subject argument; through marking plural event phases; and through marking the presence of two relations construed as one event. A root combines with a morpheme that determines the type of event that a verb may describe, and it contributes meaning within the limits set by that morpheme. Thus morphemes do not modify a fixed concept, but root and morpheme create verb meaning together. The implication of this for a theory of meaning below the word level is that the semantic concepts which humans communicate remain relatively constant, but they are expressed at different levels of granularity: at the root level; by combining roots below the word level; by combining roots with morphemes below the word level; and by combining words at the clause level. This opens up avenues for further research to establish the differences, if any, between the meanings construed at these different levels of granularity.Item Developing and Testing a Trafficability Index for Planting Corn and Cotton in the Texas Blackland Prairie(2010-07-14) Helms, Adam J.The Texas Blackland Prairie is one of the most productive agricultural regions in Texas. This region provides a long growing season coupled with soils that have a high water holding capacity. However, the soils also provide significant challenges to producers because the high water holding capacity is a product of a high clay percentage. This research was aimed to develop and test an expert-based trafficabililty index, based upon soil moisture, for planting cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and corn (Zea mays L.) on the Texas Blackland Prairie. Testing the index focused on quantify the potential effect of high soil moisture at planting on seed furrow sidewall compaction and associated plant growth response. Once the trafficability index was developed, three workable soil moisture regimes were recreated in no-tillage and conventional tillage plots at the Stiles Farm Foundation in Thrall, Texas. The index nomenclature included: "Dry-Workable", "Optimal" and "Wet-Workable". After planting corn and cotton into conventional and no tillage plots, 0.45 x 0.20 x 0.15 m intact soil blocks were removed from each plot and kept in a controlled environment. At 28 days, each block was destructively harvested to quantify plant root and shoot growth responses. Each of the three soil moisture indexes was replicated thrice per crop, and the whole experiment was replicated twice in time, n = 48 blocks. The trafficability index was created using three producer experts, and over 10 interviews to collect a range in soil moisture samples. From "Wet Workable" to "Dry Workable", the gravimetric soil moistures were 0.17, 0.22, and 0.26 g g-1. For corn and cotton, a positive relationship between plant growth factors and planting at soil moisture existed. Plants planted at the highest soil moisture emerged faster and developed more root and shoot biomass than those planted at the lowest soil moisture. No evidence of a detrimental plant response because of seed furrow, sidewall compaction from planting at too high a soil moisture content could be quantified. Furthermore, the cotton plants in no-tillage performed better than in conventional tillage, but corn performed better in conventional tillage. Because the results showed an advantage to plant growth by planting in the "Wet Workable" index, the tillage practice that allows the producer to enter the field with a planter at higher moisture contents appears to have an advantage.Item Root Morphological and Physiological Bases to Understand Genotypic Control of Mineral Acquisition in Rice Grains(2012-11-28) Chittoori, Ratnaprabha 1982-Rice (Oryza sativa L.) supports half of the human population. However, predominant rice consumption leads to malnutrition due to mineral deficiencies. The research goal was to support identification of genes responsible for the uptake/accumulation of potassium (K), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and molybdenum (Mo), thus promoting the breeding for rice with high grain concentrations of these elements. Prior studies identified rice genotypes with high grain-K, -Fe, -Zn or -Mo concentrations that were hypothesized to be due to differences in root traits. The research objective was to identify root traits associated with these elements. These traits could be bases for identifying genes. The first study determined if these genotypes showed similar accumulation patterns in leaves as in grains, which would hint at influences of the roots and enable identifying distinct root traits and possible genes in vegetative growth stages. The second study determined if root traits of high grain-Mo genotypes displayed an acid-tolerance mechanism as these genotypes originated from Malaysia where acidic soils strongly adsorb Mo making it unavailable for plants. The third study identified root trait differences of high grain-K, -Fe, -Zn and -Mo genotypes in hydroponics media, while the fourth determined root trait differences in these genotypes in sand-culture media including a 1-Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) seed treatment for perturbation. The first study identified several high grain-Mo genotypes with similar Mo accumulation patterns in V4 to V6 stage-leaves as in grains, suggestive of a root influence. The second study established that gross morphological and physiological root traits of a high grain-Mo genotype were not part of an acid-tolerance mechanism. Neither the third nor fourth study identified root traits related to shoot K, Fe, Zn or Mo concentration, however positive associations of seedling vigor traits with several beneficial elements, including K, and negative associations with numerous toxic elements were established. Lack of correlation with root traits suggests other mechanisms (e.g. active uptake transporters) instead control the observed grain accumulation differences. Based on the fourth study, either direct effects of NAA on element uptake/transfer or indirect effects on soil pH and redox potential altered tissue Fe and Zn levels.Item Visualizing complex solutions of polynomials(2012-08) Perez, Alicia Monique; Odell, E. (Edward); Daniels, MarkThis report discusses two methods of visualizing complex solutions of polynomials: modulus surfaces and vector fields. Both provide valuable information about the location of complex solutions and their multiplicity. A sketch of a proof of The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra utilizing modulus surfaces and complex analysis is also included.