Digital Commons Network^™

Those Unfortunates': Victorian Prostitution, Local Communities And The Law 1850-1890, Leah Bleakley

SOLON Law, Crime and History (previously SOLON Crimes and Misdemeanours: Deviance and the Law in Historical Perspective)

No abstract provided.

Placing Livestock In Landscape Studies: Pastures New Or Out To Graze?, Jessica Sellick, Richard Yarwood

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Environmental Activism And Its Influence On Sustainability Education (Se): Experiences At Two British Universities, R. Cutting, S. Honey, R. Cook, L. Maxey

More Faculty of Health Research

The primary aim of the project is to explore the relationship between environmental activism and the formal teaching of sustainable development in higher education. This will be investigated through two research questions:-

1) What are the key influences, transformational qualities and “critical incidents” in sustainability education that foster students’ engagement in environmental activism?

2) In what ways does the personal experience of environmental activism influence an individual’s learning and engagement with sustainability education.in higher education?

Research on student environmental activism has so far focussed on its origins, concentrating on behaviour (Stern, 2000) characteristics (Tranter, 2010) motivation (Whitmarsh and O’Neil, 2010) …

A Social Constructivist Approach To Introducing Skills For Employment To Foundation Degree Students, L. Rutt, C. Gray, R. Turner, J. Swain, S. Hulme, R. Pomeroy

Plymouth Institute of Education

No abstract provided.

Relative Sensitivity Of Two Marine Bivalves For Detection Of Genotoxic And Cytotoxic Effects: A Field Assessment In The Tamar Estuary, South West England., Lorna J. Dallas, Victoria V. Cheung, Andrew S. Fisher, Awadhesh N. Jha

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The input of anthropogenic contaminants to the aquatic environment is a major concern for scientists, regulators and the public. This is especially relevant in areas such as the Tamar valley in SW England, which has a legacy of contamination from industrial activity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Following on from previous laboratory validation studies, this study aimed to assess the relationship between genotoxic and cytotoxic responses and heavy metal concentrations in two bivalve species sampled from locations along the Tamar estuary. Adult cockles, Cerastoderma edule, and blue mussels, Mytilus edulis, were sampled from five locations in the Tamar and …

Accumulation Of Aqueous And Nanoparticulate Silver By The Marine Gastropod Littorina Littorea, Haiying Li, Andrew Turner, Murray T. Brown

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Metal Accumulation Kinetics By The Estuarine Macroalga, Fucus Ceranoides, Ranjit Varma, Andrew Turner, Murray T. Brown, Geoff E. Millward

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Predicting Malaysian Palm Oil Price Using Extreme Value Theory, K Chuangchid, S Sriboonchitta, S Rahman, A Wiboonpongse

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper uses the extreme value theory (EVT) to predict extreme price events of Malaysian palm oil in the future, based on monthly futures price data for a 25 year period (mid-1986 to mid-2011). Model diagnostic has confirmed non-normal distribution of palm oil price data, thereby justifying the use of EVT. Two principal approaches to model extreme values – the Block Maxima (BM) and Peak-OverThreshold (POT) models – were used. Both models revealed that the palm oil price will peak at an incremental rate in the next 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 year periods. The price growth level in …

Domestic Source Of Phosphorus To Sewage Treatment Works, Sean Comber, Michael Gardner, Karyn Georges, David Blackwood, Daniel Gilmour

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Epibenthic Assessment Of A Renewable Tidal Energy Site, Emma V. Sheehan, Sarah C. Gall, Sophie L. Cousens, Martin J. Attrill

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Concern over global climate change as a result of fossil fuel use has resulted in energy production from renewable sources. Marine renewable energy devices provide clean electricity but can also cause physical disturbance to the local environment. There is a considerable paucity of ecological data at potential marine renewable energy sites that is needed to assess potential future impacts and allow optimal siting of devices. Here, we provide a baseline benthic survey for the Big Russel in Guernsey, UK, a potential site for tidal energy development. To assess the suitability of proposed sites for marine renewable energy in the Big …

Container Shipping Risk Management: A Case Study Of Taiwan Container Shipping Industry, Chia-Hsun Chang

Plymouth Business School Theses

Whilst container shipping has become increasingly important over the past few decades due to its obvious advantages, container shipping companies have faced various risks from different sources in their operations. Systematic academic studies on this topic are few; and in light of this, this study aims to systematically explore and analyse the risks in container shipping operations and to examine the applicable risk mitigation strategies in a logistics perspective, including information flow, physical flow, and payment flow. This thesis uses Taiwan container shipping industry as a case study, and borrows four steps of risk management as the main method, which …

Rural Non-Farm Livelihood Diversification And Poverty Reduction In Nigeria, Paul Agu Igwe

Plymouth Business School Theses

The aim of this research is to provide analysis of the rural non-farm sector in Nigeria by investigating inter-linkages between farm and non-farm activities. By critical analysis using quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate farm and non-farm sectors, the research attempts to reveal the complex linkages between these activities undertaken by rural households. The analysis employs household surveys aimed at collecting primary data undertaken to investigate various aspects of rural livelihoods including sources of income, employment, diversification and determinants of household income. The research provides analysis of Rural Micro and Small Enterprises (RMSEs) in the non-farm sector. It investigates …

Situated Learning In Architecture And Planning: The Pedagogic Benefits To Practitioners And The Improvement Of Place., Simon Bradbury, Bob Brown, Nick Pratt, Christopher Balch, Efthimiou Papaefthimiou

School of Art, Design and Architecture

No abstract provided.

Energy Productivity And Efficiency Of Maize Accounting For The Choice Of Growing Season And Environmental Factors: An Empirical Analysis From Bangladesh, S Rahman, Ms Rahman

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The paper evaluates sustainability of maize cultivation in Bangladesh in terms of energy use while taking into account factors affecting choice of the growing season and farmers' production environment using a sample selection framework applied to stochastic frontier models. Results reveal that the probability of growing winter maize is influenced positively by gross return, irrigation, subsistence pressure, soil suitability and temperature variability whereas extension contact influences choice negatively. Significant differences exist between winter and summer maize regarding yield, specific energy, net energy balance, energy use efficiency and technical energy efficiency although both systems are highly sustainable and efficient. The energy …

A Critical Analysis Of The Kyoto Protocol Using Monte Carlo Simulation And Magicc, Penny Lambert

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted the Kyoto Protocol in December 1997. Emissions data from national registries were used to quantify the total anthropogenic emissions of signatory parties between 1990 and 2009, found to have been reduced by approximately 18 percent of base year levels. Using IPCC Special Report Emissions Scenarios (SRES) as a practicable baseline for non-mitigation, three distinct intervention scenarios were constructed from target and observed emissions reductions under the Protocol to investigate their climatic implications against unabated anthropogenic carbon by the end of the 21st century. MAGICC Version 5.3 was used to model forecast …

An Evaluation Of Whether Artificial Refuge Traps Or Baited Traps Are The Most Effective Method For Trapping White-Clawed Crayfish (Austropotamobius Pallipes), Kathryn Walter

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Britain’s only native crayfish species, the white-clawed crayfish Austropotamobius pallipes are threaten through rapid population declines caused by non-indigenous species, habitat degradation and pollution. This study focuses one of the last remaining small A. pallipes population in the Creedy Yeo River, Devon. This study aims to decipher whether the use of artificial refuge traps (ARTs) or baited traps are the most effective method of catching this species, to aid translocation efforts to conserve the remaining population under threat from the American signal crayfish Pacifastacus leniusculus. The capture rate of each type of trap was studied at four sites along the …

Location, Demographic, Lifestyle And Behavioural Influences On Household Participation In Bournemouth Borough Council's Kerbside Recycling Scheme, Stephanie Rooke

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Bournemouth Borough Council (BBC) is performing well in recycling and currently has a recycling rate of 63.9%, but there is still room for BBC to improve the efficiency of the existing ‘Big Bin’ dry kerbside recycling collection scheme and increase the recycling rate further. The aim of the study was to identify the socio-economic groups which participate the least, or contaminate the most, in BBC’s kerbside recycling scheme. A participation survey was carried out over three consecutive collection cycles for three recycling rounds ‘RW1, RW2 and RW5’ to measure how many times each individual household set out their recycling bin …

Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Erosion Along The Holderness Coastline, North East Yorkshire, Uk, Verity Macfarlane

The Plymouth Student Scientist

There is an increasing problem of erosion in coastal environments, particularly in soft material cliffs which need to be protected; migration to these environments is increasing, up to 75% more of the total population is predicted to live in close proximity to the coast by 2020. The Holderness coast (located in North East Yorkshire, UK) is the fastest eroding coastline in Europe. It comprises of soft clay, glacial till deposits from the Devensian period (18-13Ka). Previous studies have calculated that many parameters such as till properties, cliff geomorphology, cliff topography, strength and reaction to varied water contents are varied throughout …

Facies Analysis And Diagenesis Of Late Pleistocene Shoreline Sands, Saunton, North Devon, Sophie Young

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The succession at Saunton is composed of all the major elements of Pleistocene coastal stratigraphy from across north Devon. The aim of this study is to analyse and interpret the depositional environment of the laterally variable late Pleistocene sedimentary succession at Saunton, using facies analysis. This knowledge is used to infer local relative sea level changes from patterns of transgressions, normal, and forced regressions and an attempt is made, using sequence stratigraphy, to constrain the relative ages of the deposits based on marine oxygen isotope stages. Petrographic observations of the different facies and grain types are used to evidence the …

The Neighbourhood Links Project: Interim Evaluation Report, July 2012, Hl Donnellan, Gg Giarchi

School of Health Professions

An interim service evaluation study to identify the key elements of the Neighbourhood Links Project, funded by Big Lottery and delivered by TorrAGE in North Devon, that improve the quality of life and well-being of older residents (aged 60+) in one district in North Devon.

Re-Examining Green Revolution Diffusion And Factor/Input Markets In Bangladesh After Market Liberalization, S Rahman, Ia Begum, Mj Alam

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper re‐examines the effect of green revolution (GR) diffusion on factor/inputs demand in Bangladesh using an empirical model that allows for simultaneous determination of factors influencing adoption of GR technology at the current mature stage, as well as access to irrigation. Results reveal some alignments with conventional wisdom as well as few surprises. For example, while an increased demand for major inputs is expected, an increased demand for organic manure is an unexpected positive outcome. The GR adoption rate is significantly higher in villages with access to irrigation and fertile soils and, surprisingly, in infrastructurally underdeveloped villages. Together with …

Achieving A Sustainable Transport Sector In The Uk: The Effect Of Uk Transport Reform And Change In Population's Travel Decisions On The Reduction Of Energy Consumption And Co2 Emission Within The Transport Sector, Jessica Herring

The Plymouth Student Scientist

With the onset of climate change and diminishing global energy supplies, it is a concern that global fuel demand, energy consumption and carbon release are increasing. The transport sector is one of the largest contributors to environmental pressure and degradation, yet it is making a very limited contribution to carbon emission and energy reliance reduction. This paper presents a critique of the UK approach to transport sustainability, focusing mainly on aspects of an unsuccessful transport scheme; Transport 2010, whilst analysing three reform approaches stated in Haan et al (2007) study; reducing demand, energy intensity and carbon intensity to conclude with …

Energy Productivity And Efficiency Of The ‘Gher’ (Prawn-Fish-Rice) Farming System In Bangladesh, S Rahman, Bk Barmon

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Gher' farming is a unique system that incorporates the joint operation of three enterprises: freshwater prawn, fish and HYV rice, and is expanding rapidly in the coastal regions of Bangladesh because of its proven high income earning potential. In this paper, the sustainability of this system is evaluated by analysing its performance in terms of energy use by applying a stochastic distance function approach which revealed interesting and unexpected results. The prawn enterprise which is the key income earning component is found to be technically inefficient while the rice enterprise is found to be efficient. The net energy balance and …

Investigation Of The Calcification Response Of Foraminifera And Pteropods To High Co2 Environments In The Pleistocene, Paleogene And Cretaceous, M Hart, L Pettit, D Wall-Palmer, J Hall-Spencer, C Smart, A Medina-Sanchez, Rm Prol-Ledesma, R Rodolfo-Metalpa, P Collins

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Aerobic Biotransformation Of Alkyl Branched Aromatic Alkanoic Naphthenic Acids Via Two Different Pathways By A New Isolate Of Mycobacterium., Richard J. Johnson, Charles E. West, Aisha M. Swaih, Ben D. Folwell, Ben E. Smith, Steven J. Rowland, Corinne Whitby

More Faculty of Science and Engineering Research

Naphthenic acids (NAs) are complex mixtures of carboxylic acids found in weathered crude oils and oil sands, and are toxic, corrosive and persistent. However, little is known about the microorganisms and mechanisms involved in NA degradation. We isolated a sediment bacterium (designated strain IS2.3), with 100% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity to Mycobacterium aurum, which degraded synthetic NAs (4'-n-butylphenyl)-4-butanoic acid (n-BPBA) and (4'-t-butylphenyl)-4-butanoic acid (t-BPBA). n-BPBA was readily oxidized with almost complete degradation (96.8% ± 0.3) compared with t-BPBA (77.8% ± 3.7 degraded) by day 49. Cell counts increased fourfold by day 14 but decreased after day 14 for both …

The Environmental Behaviour Of Beryllium-7 And Implications For Its Use As A Sediment Tracer, Alex Taylor

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

The use of cosmogenic beryllium-7 (7Be) as a soil and sediment tracer relies upon a number of important assumptions which to date have not been fully underpinned by supporting data. As a catchment management tool 7Be offers unique potential to assess the effects of recent land use or climate change but further research is required to provide confidence in key data and elucidate sources of uncertainty. Through a range of laboratory and field studies, this thesis aims to explore knowledge gaps relating to i) the temporal and spatial dynamics of 7Be activity in rainfall which has importance in the context …

Modelling Of Bacterial Growth With Shifts In Temperature Using Automated Methods With Listeria Monocytogenes And Pseudomonas Aeruginosa As Examples, M Salih, I Mytilinaios, Hk Schofield, Rjw Lambert

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Time to detection (TTD) measurements using turbidometry allow a straightforward method for the measurement of bacterial growth rates under isothermal conditions. Growth rate measurements were carried out for Listeria monocytogenes at 25, 30 and 37°C and for Pseudomonas aeruginosa over the temperature range 25 to 45°C. The classical three-parameter logistic model was rearranged to provide the theoretical foundation for the observed TTD. A model was subsequently developed for the analysis of TTD data from non-isothermal studies based on the Malthusian approximation of the logistic model. The model was able to predict the TTD for cultures of L. monocytogenes or P. …

Growth Curve Prediction From Optical Density Data, I Mytilinaios, M Salih, Hk Schofield, Rjw Lambert

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

A fundamental aspect of predictive microbiology is the shape of the microbial growth curve and many models are used to fit microbial count data, the modified Gompertz and Baranyi equation being two of the most widely used. Rapid, automated methods such as turbidimetry have been widely used to obtain growth parameters, but do not directly give the microbial growth curve. Optical density (OD) data can be used to obtain the specific growth rate and if used in conjunction with the known initial inocula, the maximum population data and knowledge of the microbial number at a predefined OD at a known …

Joint Determination Of The Choice Of Growing Season And Economic Efficiency Of Maize In Bangladesh, S Rahman, Ms Rahman, Mh Rahman

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The paper jointly evaluates the determinants of the choice of maize growing season (winter vs. summer maize) and economic efficiency of individual producers in Bangladesh using a sample selection framework applied to stochastic frontier models. Model diagnostics reveal that sample selection bias is significant, thereby justifying the use of this approach. Probit results reveal that the probability to choose winter maize are influenced positively by gross return, subsistence pressure and soil suitability, whereas extension contact influences choice negatively. Stochastic cost frontier results reveal that a rise in input prices and output level increases production cost as expected. Among the variables …

Evidence Of Microbial Activity From A Shallow Water Whale Fall (Voghera, Northern Italy), S Danise, B Cavalazzi, S Dominici, Et Al

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The fossil bones, associated carbonate cements and enclosing concretion of a Miocene mysticete from inner shelf deposits (Monte Vallassa Formation, northern Italy) were analyzed for evidence of microbial activity. Optical and scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and stable C and O isotope geochemistry were used for high spatial resolution microfacies and biosedimentological analyses. Whale cancellous bones were filled by different carbonate cements including microcrystalline dolomite, rhombohedral dolomite and sparry calcite. Biofabric and biominerals such as microbial peloids, clotted textures and pyrite framboids were associated with the dolomite cements. Dolomite inside cancellous bones and in the enclosing concretion showed similar isotopic …