Digital Commons Network^™

A Systematic Review Of Biomonitoring Microplastics In Environmental Matrices: Emphasis On Airborne Particles, Dry Deposits, And Comparative Analysis With Traditional Methods, Faezeh Jahedi, Neamatollah Jaafarzadeh Haghighi Fard, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The use of plastics continues to rise each year due to their versatility and essential role in industries like manufacturing, agriculture, and food packaging. However, plastics present a serious environmental challenge because they take over 500 years to decompose. During this time, they break down into tiny particles known as microplastics (MPs), which are now found everywhere, water, soil, and even the air we breathe. Recently, researchers have even detected MPs in clouds, making their presence in the atmosphere a growing concern for both the environment and public health. Traditional methods for sampling MPs in the air, such as active …

The Economic Impact And Policy Implications Of Innovative Medical Technologies On The Canadian Healthcare System, Hamid Sadri

Peninsula Dental School Theses

Abstract - Hamid Sadri - The Economic Impact and Policy Implications of Innovative Medical Technologies on the Canadian Healthcare SystemDespite considerable per capita expenditure, the Canadian healthcare system faces a complex crisis characterised by strained operational capacity, substantial shortages of Health Human Resources (HHR), and suboptimal patient outcomes. This crisis arises from a decentralised and fragmented structure, further aggravated by isolated budget allocations and persistent underfunding of critical infrastructure and medical technologies. The outcomes of these issues include excessively prolonged wait times for essential procedures and diagnostics, limited access to primary and specialised care, and persistent health disparities that disproportionately …

The Economic Impact And Policy Implications Of Innovative Medical Technologies On The Canadian Healthcare System, Hamid Sadri

Peninsula Dental School Theses

Abstract - Hamid Sadri - The Economic Impact and Policy Implications of Innovative Medical Technologies on the Canadian Healthcare SystemDespite considerable per capita expenditure, the Canadian healthcare system faces a complex crisis characterised by strained operational capacity, substantial shortages of Health Human Resources (HHR), and suboptimal patient outcomes. This crisis arises from a decentralised and fragmented structure, further aggravated by isolated budget allocations and persistent underfunding of critical infrastructure and medical technologies. The outcomes of these issues include excessively prolonged wait times for essential procedures and diagnostics, limited access to primary and specialised care, and persistent health disparities that disproportionately …

A Multiethnic Approach Of Stakeholder Involvement To Set Priorities For Oral Health Research, Sumanth Kumbargere Nagraj

Peninsula Dental School Theses

Setting research priorities is a key component of an effective research system. Stakeholder involvement, both formal and informal, is crucial in this process. Only few studies focus on the challenges of engaging diverse populations, particularly those from different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, or how their values and priorities may align or differ.In Malaysia, a multiethnic and multilingual country, significant oral health disparities have been reported across ethnic groups. For example, the Malaysian National Oral Health Survey (2017) documented a higher prevalence of dental caries among Chinese children (30.7%), the highest oral cancer rates among Indians (46.2%), and the lowest prevalence …

An Immanent Postfoundational Methodology For Researching The Violent Trans-Sections Of Ableism, Classism And Sexism, Elizabeth Done, Cara Baer

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This paper charts the unfolding of a small-scale qualitative study, presented at institutional ethical approval stage as drawing on posthumanist theorising and seeking to (re)configure the concept of intersectionality, and focusing on the lived experience of postgraduate students of lower socio-economic status with disabilities. The self-selected sample comprised six women, three of whom volunteered accounts of sexual violence that complicated their experiences of dis-ability and class, and highlighted the complexity of their lived experience of intersectionality. We describe a research process in which interviewing became intra-viewing, lived experience came to be understood through Deleuzian and Deleuzo-guattarian concepts and intersectionality became …

Exploring The Experience Of Co-Designing Mental Health Services In The National Health Service As An Expert By Experience, Annabelle Mccall

School of Psychology Theses

AbstractPurposeThe number of Experts by Experience (EbE) working in mental health services has grown in recent years. The National Health Service (NHS) five year plan states EbE should be employed across different levels, including service delivery, design and commissioning. While current research explores the role of EbE in service delivery, little is known about their experiences of co-designing services. This research explored EbE experiences of co-designing NHS mental health services. DesignThis research utilised qualitative semi-structured interviews with 10 participants who had worked on projects focused on co-designing NHS mental health services as an EbE. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic …

Numerical Modelling Of Gravel Transportation By A Tsunami With The Extended Xbeach-G, Masashi Watanabe, Gerd Masselink, Daisuke Ishimura, Masaki Yamada, Adam D. Switzer

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Estimating coastal erosion by a tsunami is essential for land use planning, assessing hazards for current structures (e.g., coastal nuclear power plants), and for paleotsunami reconstruction. Such estimations are currently available only for sandy beaches, using sand sediment transport models, which are not applicable to gravel beaches, which are the most common beach type in high-latitude settings. This study extended the one-dimensional cross-shore XBeach-G model to account for two-dimensional gravel transport by a tsunami. First, this study confirmed that the extended XBeach-G model can simulate a time series of waveforms of solitary waves during laboratory experiments. The proposed model was …

Interactions Of Anthropogenic Microfibres With The Marine Macroalga, Ulva Lactuca, Adam Collins, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Little information exists on the interactions between microfibres (MFs) and marine macroalgae. In this study, the translucent green seaweed, Ulva lactuca, has been exposed to ∼2 mg L⁻¹ suspensions of MFs prepared from dryer lint under controlled conditions, with MFs on the alga surface and remaining in seawater subsequently counted and characterised. MFs were mainly <2 mm and cellulosic, and contained various additives and chemicals used in textile treatment. Interactions of MFs with U. lactuca were spatially heterogeneous but correcting for pre-existent MFs on the surface, mean trapping efficiencies on a dry mass and surface area basis were 252 mL g⁻¹ and 0.858 mL cm⁻², respectively. Despite this heterogeneity, there was evidence of differential trapping based on fibre colour and length. Interactions between the amphiphilic algal surface and MFs are likely both hydrophobic and electrostatic and are not fully reversible, with only …

Care‐Ful Encounters: A Case For Empathetic Youthful Encounters With Coastal Environments, Mark Holton

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper extends discourse of environmental stewardship and coastal management by examining the intersecting and overlapping relationships between notions of care and encounter in generating and maintaining forms of environmental empathy among young people at various socio-spatial scales. Exploring ‘care-ful encounters’ matters in terms of developing new ways of understanding how the choreographies of care and self-care shape, and are shaped by, encounters with human and non-human others, and prompts critical engagement and reflection with care as felt and experienced, that could otherwise be considered as distanced and ‘over there‘. Two key contributions emerge – first, that the combined role …

Anthropogenic Microfibres And Other Microplastics In The Sediments And Soils Of A Small, Moorland Reservoir (Burrator, Southwest England), Alexandra Sutton, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Little is known about the sources, transport and fate of anthropogenic microfibres (AMFs) and other microplastics (MPs) in dammed reservoirs. The aim of this study was to determine the concentrations, characteristics and pathways of anthropogenic particles in sediments and soils from a small, upland reservoir (Burrator, southwest England) and its influent and effluent river. Surface and subsurface (5 cm) sediments and soils were collected and characterised for organic matter and key geochemical (Ca, Fe and Rb) and anthropogenic (Pb and Zn) elements. AMFs and MPs were isolated from samples by flotation in ZnCl₂ and analysed microscopically; a selection was …

Arctic Fjord Ecosystem Adaptation To Cryosphere Meltdown Over The Past 14,000 Years, Jochen Knies, Youngkyu Ahn, Berenice Ebner, Lukas Smik, Kwangchul Jang, Seung Il Nam, Simon T. Belt, Carsten J. Schubert

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Arctic cryosphere is the epicentre of acute global change impact, with abrupt warming and amplification driving rapid sea ice decline and irreversible glacial ice loss. A key challenge is understanding how the cryosphere meltdown will impact Arctic marine carbon cycles and ecosystems. Here, we use organic geochemical biomarkers to trace the contribution of different planktonic groups to organic carbon in Arctic fjord sediments (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard) during past warmer and colder (than present) climate states. We show that phytoplankton community structures changed abruptly with variable sea ice cover and glacial ice loss. Our results imply that future deglaciation of Svalbard …

Lipid Biomarkers For Marine Fungi, Emily Cooper

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

Marine fungi play key roles as parasites and saprotrophs in marine ecosystems and are important degraders of organic matter. They likely facilitate the remineralisation of marine carbon, thus have a profound impact on marine biogeochemical cycles. However, as little is known about their global abundance and biomass, fungi are yet to be included in biogeochemical models. Lipid biomarkers can be used to assess microbial abundance and biomass due to their specificity and may be utilised to explore the viability and trophic dynamics of marine microbial communities. Although lipid biomarkers for fungi have been used in terrestrial environments, such as soils, …

And The Skylarks Called Out Your Name: Posthuman Encounters With Loss Through Embracing The More-Than-Human World., Jennifer-Anne Bradbury-Crowther

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

Howling at the sea, tears in damp morning air, songs on the wind, syrup-thick summer warmth, dawn before midnight, red moon, humming, whispers. Meet me where the sky meets the sea. This thesis proposes that immersion in the more-than-human world offers possibilities for an exploration of loss and its transformative potential. Loss here not only relates to personal bereavement, but also to a lack of connection with the natural world; in these post-Covid days many are feeling overwhelmed by feelings of isolation and alienation and a sense that something intrinsic has been lost in the modern world.Posthumanism creates a supportive …

Grassroots Playwriting : Practice-Led Research Exploring The Impact Of Producing Historical Verse Drama For A Local Community, Chris Savery

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

Christ SaveryGrassroots Playwriting: Practice-led research exploring the Impact of Producing Historical Verse Drama for a local CommunityOver the past thirty years, Practice as Research has contributed to a deeper understanding of theatre ecology, particularly in relation to the complexities and nuances of grassroots community theatre. This study builds upon this body of knowledge by addressing the question: How can the creation and performance of a historical verse drama by a self-producing grassroots playwright serve as a catalyst for community engagement? Central to this thesis is the investigation into my role as a self-producing playwright within the context of grassroots theatre, …

The Revolving Door Of Epilepsy Emergencies, Sarah Lennard

School of Health Professions Theses

This thesis explores the revolving doors of epilepsy emergencies, focusing on the key factors that contribute to repeated attendances at emergency departments (ED) following seizures. The study is based on five peer-reviewed journal articles that provide a comprehensive review of current evidence, risk factors for ED attendance, clinicians' perspectives, and the use of technology in epilepsy management. The research identifies several critical factors influencing ED attendances, including mental health issues, medication adherence, and social determinants such as deprivation and homelessness. The findings highlight the need for integrated care pathways, improved communication between healthcare providers, and targeted interventions for vulnerable populations. …

Tourists’ Immersive Experiences At Dark Tourism Destinations: The Role Of The Spiritualist Medium, Andrew Fry

Plymouth Business School Theses

While immersive experience and dark tourism are established fields, little research has examined how spiritualist mediums shape belief-led, emotionally resonant encounters at historically charged sites. This thesis addresses that gap by investigating how mediums influence emotional engagement, interpretive depth, and perceptions of authenticity. Centred on Bodmin Jail’s After Dark Event, the study adopts a sequential mixed-methods design and integrates quantitative patterns with qualitative mechanisms through joint QUAN–QUAL displays. Findings show that mediumship helps convert arousal into reflective meaning through ritual participation, atmospheric design, and interpretive trust. Anticipated theatricality heightened arousal and “staging” attributions, yet felt authenticity was sustained when the …

The Use Of An In Chemico Digestibility Assay To Reduce The In Vivo Fish Bioaccumulation Testing Of Nanomaterials, Craig Mchardy, Nathaniel J. Clark, Robert Clough, Richard D. Handy

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Currently for engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), there are no alternatives to bioaccumulation testing in fish as prescribed by OECD TG 305. New approaches are being sought, in order to reduce the numbers of animals used and address the ethical concerns associated with the use of vertebrates in such testing. This study aimed to demonstrate the value of an alternative method — the in chemico digestibility assay — as a tool to assess the bioaccumulation potential of ENMs. Titanium dioxide ENMs, or their equivalent bulk form, were incorporated onto a commercial fish diet and the fish digestion process was simulated in vitro …

‘At Least I Wasn't In An Inner-City Flat With A Partner I Hated’: An Auto/Biographical Study Of Reflections On Well-Being By 35-65 Year Olds In Cornwall Following The Covid-19 Pandemic, Cheralyn May

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health have been considerably researched since its start in 2019, by researchers from a range of disciplines around the world. This sociological study (using insights from social and positive psychology) contributes to our knowledge of the pandemic by using qualitative methods – fourteen semi-structured interviews and researcher auto/biography to investigate the mental health experiences of middle-aged, single adults living in Cornwall in the UK during the pandemic. In the pandemic literature, this is an under-researched, and therefore potentially less understood, group and location. The data was analysed using a combination of the …

Palynology, Landscape And Land Use: Retrospect, Prospect And Research Agendas, Ralph Fyfe, Kevin Edwards, Laura Scoble

More Faculty of Science and Engineering Research

This paper provides a context for the use of anthropogenic palynology in the study of landscape and land use. Retrospective considerations indicate a history to current trends and inform future developments. Recent and prospective studies secure palynology as an essential element in archaeological and related environmental research. It is stressed that palynology is an inherently spatio-temporal discipline that can use concepts such as landscape or habitat heterogeneity as a future framework. This may be possible if recent advances in quantification of local vegetation cover, for example the use of model-based correction approaches within the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm, are more widely …

The Necessity Of Electric School Bus: A Comparative Study Of Myanmar And Vietnam, Yang Ho Lee, Saeyeon Roh, Jin Woong Yoo

Plymouth Business School

Purpose: This research aims to ascertain key factors which influence the necessity of South Korean electric school buses in Myanmar and Vietnam. The interest in business sustainability and the demand for electric or safe school buses are increasing in Myanmar and Vietnam. Design/methodology/approach: As quantitative research, this study relies on a non-probability sampling method to collect data sets from experts in both countries. As this research covers three steps, including 1) literature reviews, 2) preliminary analysis and 3) Consistent Fuzzy Preference Relations (CFPR) analysis, robust outcomes were found and established in this study. Findings: Among five driving factors, including 1) …

Tsunami Boulder Transport In Coastal Environments: Insights From Physical Experiments And Dimensional Analysis, Storm Roberts, Alison Raby, Sarah Boulton, William Allsop, Alessandro Antonini, Ivo Van Balen, David Mcgovern, Keith Adams, Ian Chandler, Jonas Cels, Irene Manzella

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Coastal boulder deposits hold the potential to aid in the reconstruction of past extreme wave events. However, commonly used hydrodynamic equations for calculating wave heights from transported boulders can be inaccurate. New and alternative methods need to be explored in an interdisciplinary way to ensure a more complete picture of the phenomenon of boulder transport is achieved. Through the use of a physical experiment, this study aims to investigate the influence of different tsunami wave types, wave parameters and boulder shapes on boulder transport distance. The experimental results also allow for a novel application of dimensional analysis to enable comparisons …

Changes In The Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Covid-19 In Japan From 2020 Through 2023, Atsuna Tokumoto, Kazuaki Jindai, Tomoki Nakaya, Mayuko Saito, Clive E Sabel, Hitoshi Oshitani

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

BACKGROUND: The spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) varied among countries. The spatiotemporal trends of COVID-19 in Japan remain understudied. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a detailed investigation of the spatiotemporal evolution of infections/deaths across prefectures in Japan, to analyze the changing patterns of COVID-19 circulation in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.

METHODS: We extracted data from nationally represented open-source data from January 15, 2020, to May 9, 2023, and we calculated the incidence rate of infection and the mortality. Further the ratios were obtained by dividing those rates in prefectural level by those in national level to make them …

Canopy Functional Trait Variation Across Earth’S Tropical Forests, Jesús Aguirre-Gutiérrez, Sophie Fauset, Sami W. Rifai, Xiongjie Deng, Hans Ter Steege, Eleanor Thomson, Jose Javier Corral-Rivas, Aretha Franklin Guimaraes, Sandra Muller, Joice Klipel, Angelica F. Resende, Göran Wallin, Carlos A. Joly, Katharine Abernethy, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Celice Alexandre Silva, Edmar Almeida De Oliveira, Danilo R. A. Almeida, Esteban Alvarez-Davila, Gregory P. Asner, Timothy R. Baker, Maíra Benchimol, Lisa Patrick Bentley, Erika Berenguer, Lilian Blanc, Damien Bonal, Kauane Bordin, Robson Borges De Lima, Sabine Both, Jaime Cabezas Duarte

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Tropical forest canopies are the biosphere’s most concentrated atmospheric interface for carbon, water and energy1,2. However, in most Earth System Models, the diverse and heterogeneous tropical forest biome is represented as a largely uniform ecosystem with either a singular or a small number of fixed canopy ecophysiological properties3. This situation arises, in part, from a lack of understanding about how and why the functional properties of tropical forest canopies vary geographically4. Here, by combining field-collected data from more than 1,800 vegetation plots and tree traits with satellite remote-sensing, terrain, climate and soil data, we predict variation across 13 morphological, structural …

Metal Contamination In Sediments Of An Estuary Impacted By Discharges Of Antifouling Waste (Yealm, Southwest England), Oliver Bradley, Gillian A. Glegg, Geoffrey E. Millward, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Yealm is a small, protected estuary in southwest England. A paint-testing laboratory on the estuary operated from the 1920s until 2011 but sometime in 2015 or 2016, an unauthorised discharge of antifouling waste occurred. In this study, concentrations of metals and forms thereof associated with contemporary and historical antifouling formulations (As, Cu, Hg, Pb, Sn, Zn, organic Hg, organic Sn), along with other elements of geochemical or anthropogenic interest, were measured in fractionated (<180 μm) surface sediments at different distances from the discharge. Close to the discharge, concentrations of organic-Sn, representative of tributyltin, exceeded a level that requires material disposal in landfill; here and upestuary, concentrations of Cu and Hg exceeded respective predicted effect levels for estuarine sediments. Analysis of paint flakes isolated from sediments outside the laboratory revealed similar chemical signatures (high concentrations of Cu in most flakes and high levels of Hg and Sn in several cases), consistent with antifouling paint being the cause of contamination. Concentrations of Cu, Hg and organic Sn in sections of a dated core sampled close to the discharge exhibited enrichment since the opening of the laboratory nearly 100 years ago, with distinctive peaks for Hg and organic Sn coincident with periods shortly after these biocidal metals began to be phased out or restricted. These observations suggest that historical waste discharges may have been important and that any remediation measures will be challenging. The general observations might also be applicable to other facilities where contemporary and legacy antifouling waste is commonly discharged to sediments (e.g., boatyards).

Field Learning And Employability In Geography, Earth, And Environmental Sciences, Jacqueline Dohaney, Alison Stokes

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Society needs talented Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES) graduates to help address global challenges, but the pathway to professional employment is seldom easy. After graduation, most GEES graduates enter professions requiring broad transferable skills and 'value-added' experiences to thrive in the modern workforce. GEES educators can therefore enhance employability by using field experiences to introduce and develop transferable skills valued by employers. Here, we define employability for our context, explore GEES graduate skills and describe the ways that communication, project management and personal and professional skills can be embedded in field experiences guided by the available literature. We identify …

Navigating The Transition: Modelling The Path For Net-Zero European Building Sector, Souran Chatterjee, Gergely Molnar, Benedek Kiss, Daniel Topal, Diana Ürge-Vorsatz

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Transition towards a net-zero building sector offers substantial potential to mitigate climate change impacts andthus plays a pivotal role in meeting the goals set forth in the Paris Agreement. Stakeholders often use mathematical models to understand the true potential for mitigating emissions by reducing the energy demand of thebuilding sector. However, the existing models rarely provide insights into net-zero pathways for both the residential and tertiary buildings as this is a complex sector to calculate the future pathways towards net-zero.Hence, uncertainties in the associated policy decisions persist. Therefore, this study uses the High-EfficiencyBuilding (HEB) energy model to calculate the energy …

The Implementation Of The Guiding Principles On Business And Human Rights By The Office Of The United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (Unhcr), Reema Al Kyed

Plymouth Business School Theses

ABSTRACTThe Implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)Reema Issa Al KyedThis thesis examines the compliance of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), focusing on its commitment to respecting human rights, exercising due diligence, and enabling remediation for adverse impacts. The study has four key objectives: evaluating the relevance of sociological and human rights theories for implementing the UNGPs, assessing UNHCR’s compliance with the UNGPs, identifying areas for improvement, and …

The Impact Of Talent Management On Process Innovation Implementation In The Upstream Oil And Gas Sector, Salim Al Daraai

Plymouth Business School Theses

The oil and gas industry is vital industry in the world. Specifically, the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry plays a crucial role in the global economy, serving as a primary source of energy and revenue generation. It involves exploration and development activities, where exploration involves identifying petroleum resources, including drilling and seismic surveys. In contrast, production involves a way to extract petroleum from the ground. Moreover, the oil and gas industry is highly competitive and rapidly evolving. Process innovation implementation plays an important role in the success and sustainability of organizations in the oil and gas industries. …

The Eastern Mediterranean Sea Energy Diplomacy: The Case Of Lebanon 2012-2022, Hoda Taktak

Plymouth Business School Theses

This thesis explores the geopolitical implications of energy discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS) region, with a particular focus on Lebanon's role within this complex dynamic. The research examines how energy governance, security challenges, and regional conflict and cooperation shape Lebanon's ability to leverage its energy resources from 2012 to 2022. Through interviews with thirty top professionals in the field, the study offers an in-depth examination of the evolving geopolitical and geoeconomic dynamics resulting from maritime boundary disputes, regional tensions, and Lebanon’s energy potential.While energy discoveries in the EMS region present significant opportunities, Lebanon faces challenges in unlocking its …

An Investigation Of The Awareness And Preparedness Amongst The Tourism And Event Industries Of The Threat Of A Marine-Based Terrorist Attack., Carleen Martin

Plymouth Business School Theses

This study is an investigation of the awareness and preparedness amongst the tourism and event industries of the threat of a marine-based terrorist attack. The purpose was to determine the extent of the threat of a marine-based terrorist attack to the tourism and event industries operating in coastal areas in the United Kingdom and gain an in depth understanding of the perception, awareness, and preparedness of marine-based terrorist risk held by the multiple stakeholders involved. This research took a qualitative approach obtaining the expert testimonies of senior operatives in the field who have been involved in the emergency response to …