Digital Commons Network^™

Assessment Of Urban Physical Features On Summer Thermal Perceptions Using The Local Climate Zone Classification, Cho Kwong Charlie Lam, Salman Shooshtarian, Inji Kenawy

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Urbanisation has changed local meteorological conditions worldwide. The physical features of outdoor spaces are critical in determining outdoor thermal comfort through changes in meteorological parameters. Past studies comparing subjective thermal perception between local climate zones (LCZ) were mainly conducted in humid subtropical regions. This study aims to investigate this relationship using outdoor thermal comfort survey data collected in three research projects in Melbourne, Australia (temperate oceanic climate) (n = 4717). The physical features investigated included the sky view factor (SVF) and LCZ classification. During Melbourne's summer, people preferred a higher PET value than neutral PET across all LCZs. People in …

Isolated Pdo Sites On Sio2-Supported Nio Nanoparticles As Active Sites For Allylic Alcohol Selective Oxidation., Aleksandra Ziarko, Thomas J.A. Slater, Mark A. Isaacs, Lee J. Durndell, Christopher M.A. Parlett

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Catalytic allylic alcohol oxidation to aldehydes is an industrial process that necessitates chemoselectivity. Surface PdO (on Pd) enables this transformation but does not represent optimal metal utilisation. Here we report a facile synthesis route to produce isolated surface PdO catalytic sites on an earth-abundant metal (NiO) for cinnamyl alcohol oxidation.

Ultra-Trace Analysis Of Fallout Plutonium Isotopes In Soil: Emerging Trends And Future Perspectives, Sophia M. Dowell, Olivier S. Humphrey, William H. Blake, Odipo Osano, Simon Chenery, Michael J. Watts

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The measurement of isotopic abundances and ratio variations of plutonium can provide important information about the sources and behaviours of radiogenic isotopes in the environment. The detection of ultra-trace isotopes of plutonium is increasing interest in the scientific literature for the determination of soil erosion rates due to their long retention times in the environment. The characteristics of plutonium within the environment make it an ideal tracer for the determination of soil redistribution rates and its robustness presents the opportunity to replace more commonly used radioisotopes such as 137Cesium and 210Lead. However, ultra-trace analysis of plutonium (fg g−1) presents analytical …

Association Of Metals With Expanded Polystyrene In The Marine Environment, Sophie Irene Twyford, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Steady Decline In Mean Annual Air Temperatures In The First 30 K.Y. After The Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary, Lauren K. O’Connor, Emily Dearing Crampton-Flood, Rhodri M. Jerrett, Gregory D. Price, B. David A. Naafs, Richard D. Pancost, Paul Mccormack, Aris Lempotesis-Davies, Dongen Be Van, Sabine K. Lengger

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary marks one of the five major mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic. The ways in which the climate system responded to a bolide impact and extensive volcanism at this time over different time scales are highly debated. We used the distribution of branched tetraether lipids (brGDGT) from fossil peats at two sites in Saskatchewan, Canada (paleolatitude ~55°N), to generate a high-resolution (millennial) record of mean annual air temperature (MAAT) spanning the last ~4 k.y. of the Cretaceous and the first ~30 k.y. of the Paleogene. Our study shows that MAATs ranged from 16 to 29 °C, with …

Time For Dementia: Quantitative Evaluation Of A Dementia Education Programme For Healthcare Students, S Daley, M Hebditch, C Jones, S Bremner, Et Al

Peninsula Medical School

Objectives. The future healthcare workforce needs the skills, attitudes, and empathy to better meet the needs of those with dementia. Time for Dementia (TFD) is an educational programme in which healthcare students from a range of professional groups visit a person with dementia and their family carer over a two-year period. The aim of this study was to evaluate its impact on student attitudes, knowledge and empathy towards dementia. Methods. Measures of dementia knowledge, attitudes and empathy were administered to healthcare students at five universities in the south of England before and after (24 months) they completed the TFD programme. …

Testing The Effect Of Relative Pollen Productivity On The Reveals Model: A Validated Reconstruction Of Europe-Wide Holocene Vegetation, M. A. Serge, F. Mazier, R. Fyfe, M. J. Gaillard, T. Klein, A. Lagnoux, D. Galop, E. Githumbi, M. Mindrescu, A. B. Nielsen, A. K. Trondman, A. Poska, S. Sugita, J. Woodbridge

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Reliable quantitative vegetation reconstructions for Europe during the Holocene are crucial to improving our understanding of landscape dynamics, making it possible to assess the past effects of environmental variables and land-use change on ecosystems and biodiversity, and mitigating their effects in the future. We present here the most spatially extensive and temporally continuous pollen-based reconstructions of plant cover in Europe (at a spatial resolution of 1° × 1°) over the Holocene (last 11.7 ka BP) using the ‘Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites’ (REVEALS) model. This study has three main aims. First, to present the most accurate and …

Keeping On[Line] Farming: Examining Young Farmers’ Digital Curation Of Identities, (Dis)Connection And Strategies For Self-Care Through Social Media, Mark Holton, Mark Riley, Gina Kallis

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper explores the geographies of digital curation and self-care among young farmers in the UK, examining how virtual and digital spaces are having a significant impact on how young farmers negotiate their identities, (dis)connection and self-care within their everyday lives. Drawing on interviews with 28 young famers in the UK, we observe how farming identities are (re)produced and practiced online, via carefully curated social media, and how these might constitute practices of self-care in overcoming issues such as disconnection and rural isolation. Our analysis reveals how social media posts are more than simple connections, they are curations of the …

Wildfire And Degradation Accelerate Northern Peatland Carbon Release, S. L. Wilkinson, R. Andersen, P. A. Moore, S. J. Davidson, G. Granath, J. M. Waddington

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The northern peatland carbon sink plays a vital role in climate regulation; however, the future of the carbon sink is uncertain, in part, due to the changing interactions of peatlands and wildfire. Here, we use empirical datasets from natural, degraded and restored peatlands in non-permafrost boreal and temperate regions to model net ecosystem exchange and methane fluxes, integrating peatland degradation status, wildfire combustion and post-fire dynamics. We find that wildfire processes reduced carbon uptake in pristine peatlands by 35% and further enhanced emissions from degraded peatlands by 10%. The current small net sink is vulnerable to the interactions of peatland …

“We Were Amused By An Itinerant Singing-Man”: Print, Writing, And Orality In Mungo Park’S Travels In The Interior Districts Of Africa, A Sood

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This article draws on critical Indigenous theories to locate previously marginalized knowledge systems in Mungo Park’s Travels in The Interior Districts of Africa (1799). Park’s text abounds with descriptions of jilla keas, “singing-men,” and other examples of West African literary cultures (written and oral). I argue that an Indigenous-centered method of reading allows us to locate the Mande knowledges that not only informed Park’s mediations of orality but also attempted to resist and reimagine oral culture in the face of increasing colonial presence in West Africa. This article offers possibilities for the critical recovery of Indigenous knowledges within colonial texts. …

The Role Of Titanium Dioxide On The Behaviour And Fate Of Plastics In The Aquatic Environment, Andrew Turner, Montserrat Filella

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Although titanium dioxide (TiO2) is the most widely used pigment in plastics, there is limited quantitative information available for consumer goods and environmental samples. Moreover, and despite its photocatalytic activity, the potential impacts of TiO2 on the behaviour and fate of environmental plastics has received little attention. This paper compiles measurements of Ti in plastic samples from aquatic environments and in consumer goods that are known to make important contributions to environmental pollution. These data, along with a critical evaluation of experimental studies using TiO2-pigmented plastics, are used to formulate an understanding of how the pigment modifies the properties and …

Contribution Of Glaciers To Water, Energy And Food Security In Mountain Regions: Current Perspectives And Future Priorities, C Clason, S Rangecroft, Pn Owens, E Łokas, G Baccolo, N Selmes, D Beard, J Kitch, Rm Dextre, S Morera, W Blake

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Mountain glaciers are crucial sources of fresh water, contributing directly and indirectly to water, energy and food supplies for hundreds of millions of people. Assessing the impact of diminishing glacial meltwater contributions to the security of this resource is critical as we seek to manage and adapt to changing freshwater dynamics in a warming world. Both water quantity and quality influence water (in)security, so understanding the fluxes of water, sediment and contaminants through glacial and proglacial systems is required for holistic assessment of meltwater contribution to downstream resource security. In this paper we consider the socio-environmental role of and pressures …

Automatic And Manual Segmentation Of The Piriform Cortex: Method Development And Validation In Patients With Temporal Lobe Epilepsy And Alzheimer's Disease, D Steinbart, Sn Yaakub, M Steinbrenner, Ls Guldin, Et Al

School of Psychology

The piriform cortex (PC) is located at the junction of the temporal and frontal lobes. It is involved physiologically in olfaction as well as memory and plays an important role in epilepsy. Its study at scale is held back by the absence of automatic segmentation methods on MRI. We devised a manual segmentation protocol for PC volumes, integrated those manually derived images into the Hammers Atlas Database (n = 30) and used an extensively validated method (multi-atlas propagation with enhanced registration, MAPER) for automatic PC segmentation. We applied automated PC volumetry to patients with unilateral temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal …

Examining The Factors That Contribute To Pro-Environmental Behaviour Between Rural And Urban Populations, Alan Smith, Jade Sheasby

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Factors that influence pro-environmental behaviour in individuals can be examined to assess the influence of a single element or combination of elements. In this study, eight factors were investigated for their influence on pro-environmental behaviour: environmental knowledge, environmental attitude, the influence of others, environmental responsibility, age, qualification level, employment status and locality (rural or urban). These factors were established from behavioural theory in the field of psychology, specifically the theory of planned behaviour. Data were collected via an online questionnaire, for which the participants were scored on answers to pro-environmental behaviour questions, which, in turn, were correlated against established influences …

"We Were Amused By An Itinerant Singing-Man": Print, Writing, Andorality In Mungo Park's Travels In The Interior Districts Of Africa, Arun Sood

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This article draws on critical Indigenous theories to locate previously marginalized knowledge systems in Mungo Park's Travels in The Interior Districts of Africa (1799). Park's text abounds with descriptions of jilla keas, "singingmen," and other examples of West African literary cultures (written and oral). I argue that an Indigenous-centered method of reading allows us to locate the Mande knowledges that not only informed Park's mediations of orality but also attempted to resist and reimagine oral culture in the face of increasing colonial presence in West Africa. This article offers possibilities for the critical recovery of Indigenous knowledges within colonial texts. …

Analyzing Drainage Basin Orientation And Its Relationship To Active Fold Growth (Handun Anticline, Zagros, Iran), Shahram Bahrami, Martin Stokes

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Combinations of tectonic geomorphological criteria are frequently used to detect vertical and lateral growth of fold structures in tectonically active settings due to their low cost and relative ease of application. The purpose of this study is to analyze the morphometric properties of drainage basins developed into the flanks of a growing anticline to explore the active tectonic growth patterns of the fold. We target the Handun anticline in the Zagros Simply Folded Belt due to it being an actively growing fold structure with a high variability of drainage basin morphologies across different parts of the fold. 57 drainage basins …

Rethinking North–South Research Partnerships Amidst Global Uncertainties: Leveraging Lessons Learned From Uk Gcrf Projects During Covid-19, Daniela Anghileri, Matt Kandel, Melanie C. Austen, Vikki V. Cheung, Helen Coskeran, Adam J.M. Devenish, Patrick S.M. Dunlop, Mawuli Dzodzomenyo, Hong C. Goh, Sithembile Mwamakamba, Vanessa Ross, John Spafford, Precious Yeki, Genevieve Agaba

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

International research and development projects (or grand challenge projects) consist of multicultural, multi-country, multi-sectoral, and multi-stakeholder initiatives aimed at poverty reduction. They are usually conceived as partnerships between actors in the global north–south. The COVID-19 pandemic was a major unexpected disruption to ongoing projects and challenged their already complex management. The aim of this paper is to present evidence on how international development projects were impacted by COVID-19 with a particular focus on the relationship between research institutions in the north and south. We conducted a mixed-methods research study, combining a reflective exercise with the co-author team and a survey …

Petrology Of The 2020 2021 Effusive To Explosive Eruption Of La Soufriere Volcano St Vincent: Insights Into Plumbling System Architecture And Magma Assembly Mechanism, Gregor Weber, Jon Blundy, Jenni Barclay, David M. Pyle, Paul Cole, Holli Frey, Matthew Manon, Bridie V. Davies, Katharine Cashman

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The 2020-21 eruption of La Soufrière, St Vincent began with extrusion of a viscous lava dome, which was destroyed upon transition to a major explosive phase. Here we present petrological data to reconstruct the processes leading up to these events. Bulk-rock SiO2 contents range from 52.8 to 55.4 wt. %, classifying the lava and the subsequent scoria as basaltic andesite, the latter being slightly more mafic. Macrocrystal chemistry and modes (plag-cpx-opx-tmt-ol) and crystallinity (45–50 vol. %) are largely identical for both phases of the eruption. Pyroxenes are homogenous and precipitated mostly from andesitic melts. Conversely, plagioclase shows strong normal zonation …

Projected Effects Of Climate Change On Marine Ecosystems In Southeast Asian Seas, Susan Kay, Arlene L Avillanosa, Vikki Cheung, Hung N Dao, Benjamin Jareta Gonzales, Herminie P Palla, Radisti A Praptiwi, Ana M Queirós, Sévrine F Sailley, Joel D C Sumeldan, Wan Mohd Syazwan, Amy Yee-Hui Then, Hin Boo Wee

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Microplastics In Coastal Urban Sediments: Discrepancies In Concentration And Character Revealed By Different Approaches To Sample Processing, James Keene, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Origins, Characteristics And Destination Of Nursing Students In South West England, K. Hambridge, S. Banerjee, L. Winfield, J. Gripton

School of Nursing and Midwifery

ackground

Worldwide there are concerns about the supply of nurses into health systems. Understanding and balancing the supply of and demand for healthcare professionals is crucial to efficient healthcare delivery, yet there is relatively little research that examines in detail where nursing students come from and where they go after qualification. Objectives

To investigate the demographic characteristics of applicants to nursing and midwifery programmes in England, those that are enrolled, attrition during study, and their career intentions on graduation. Methods

A descriptive case study was conducted in south west England drawing on a complementary set of analyses of routinely collected …

The Influence Of Mantle Hydration And Flexure On Slab Seismicity In The Southern Central Andes, C Rodriguez Piceda, Y-J Gao, M Cacace, M Scheck-Wenderoth, J Bott, M Strecker, F Tilmann

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Knowledge of the causative dynamics of earthquakes along subduction-zone interfaces and within oceanic slabs is relevant for improving future seismic hazard assessments. Here, we combine the analysis of seismic tomography, the 3D structure of the slab and seismicity to investigate the controlling factors driving slab seismic activity beneath the southern Central Andes. We evaluate the ratio distribution between compressional and shear-wave seismic velocities (Vp/Vs) as a proxy for the hydration state of the lithospheric mantle, oceanic slab, and plate interface. Regions of high Vp/Vs, i.e. areas of hydrated mantle, are principally caused by compaction effects and dehydration reactions. In contrast, …

Tritium: Its Relevance, Sources And Impacts On Non-Human Biota, Maria Florencia Ferreira, Andrew Turner, Emily L. Vernon, Christian Grisolia, Laurence Lebaron-Jacobs, Veronique Malard, Awadhesh N. Jha

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Tritium (3H) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is abundantly released from nuclear industries. It is extremely mobile in the environment and in all biological systems, representing an increasing concern for the health of both humans and non-human biota (NHB). The present review examines the sources and characteristics of tritium in the environment, and evaluates available information pertaining to its biological effects at different levels of biological organisation in NHB. Despite an increasing number of publications in the tritium radiobiology field, there exists a significant disparity between data available for the different taxonomic groups and species, and observations are …

Money Matters: Time For Prevention And Early Intervention To Address Family Economic Circumstances, Nick Axford, Vashti Berry

Peninsula Medical School

Child poverty is associated with poorer physical and mental health, negative educational outcomes and adverse long-term social and psychological consequences, all of which impact on service demand and expenditure. Until now, however, prevention and early intervention practice has tended to focus on enhancing inter-parental relationships and parenting skills (e.g., via relationship skills education, home visiting, parenting programs, family therapy) or child language, social-emotional and life skills (e.g., early childhood education, school-based programs, youth mentoring). Programs often target low-income neighborhoods or families but rarely address poverty directly. While there is substantial evidence for the effectiveness of such interventions in improving child …

Historical Anthropogenic Disturbances Explain Long-Term Moorland Vegetation Dynamics, Francis Rowney, Ralph M. Fyfe, Leonard Baker, Henry French, Martha B. Koot, Havananda Ombashi, Rhys G. O. Timms

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Upland moorlands are important landscapes, but many are considered degraded as a result of human activities. Consequently, their protection and restoration are of substantial concern. In Europe, restoration activities are often aimed at reversing the effects of 19th and 20th century “agricultural improvements,” which often involved major drainage schemes. However, the ecological effects and long-term ecological context of “agricultural improvement” are not yet fully understood. To develop this understanding, we analyze paleoecological data (pollen, coprophilous fungal spores, microcharcoal) from five upland peatland sites using a range of analytical approaches: cluster analysis, principal component analysis, rate-of-change analysis, and regression analyses incorporating …

Response Of Dissolved Organic Carbon Dynamics To Salinity In A Constructed Fen Peatland In The Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Emily Prystupa, Scott J. Davidson, Jonathan Price, Maria Strack

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

In northern Alberta, oil sands mining disturbs the boreal landscape, and reclamation to an ‘equivalent land capability’ is required. Industry is testing peatland construction as part of landscape reclamation. To determine if constructed peatlands can be self-sustaining, an understanding of the cycling of solutes in pore water and their interactions with dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is needed since DOC can represent an important carbon loss from peatlands. DOC is of interest due to its biotic origin and use by the microbial community and impact on carbon budgets. Additionally, salinity as a control on DOC quantity and quality may be important …

Prevalence Of Long-Term Physical Sequelae Among Patients Treated With Multi-Drug And Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Ty Akalu, Aca Clements, Hf Wolde, Ka Alene

Peninsula Medical School

Background Physical sequelae related to multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) are emerging and under-recognised global challenges. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to quantify the prevalence and the types of long-term physical sequelae associated with patients treated for MDR- and XDR-TB. Methods We systematically searched CINAHL (EBSCO), MEDLINE (via Ovid), Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception through to July 1, 2022, and the last search was updated to January 23, 2023. We included studies reporting physical sequelae associated with all forms of drug-resistant TB, including rifampicin-resistant TB (RR-TB), MDR-TB, Pre-XDR-TB, and XDR-TB. The primary …

Volcanism And Carbon Cycle Perturbations In The High Arctic During The Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous, Madeleine L. Vickers, Mads E. Jelby, Kasia K. Śliwińska, Lawrence M.E. Percival, Feiyue Wang, Hamed Sanei, Gregory D. Price, Clemens V. Ullmann, Stephen E. Grasby, Lutz Reinhardt, Tamsin A. Mather, Joost Frieling, Christoph Korte, Rhodri M. Jerrett, Morgan T. Jones, Ivar Midtkandal, Jennifer M. Galloway

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Release Of Tephra-Hosted Iron During Early Diagenesis Fingerprinted By Iron Isotopes, Jack Longman, Ann G. Dunlea, Philipp Böning, Martin R. Palmer, Thomas M. Gernon, James Mcmanus, Hayley R. Manners, William B. Homoky, Katharina Pahnke

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

The micronutrient iron (Fe) plays a fundamental role controlling primary productivity in the upper ocean, with volcanic eruptions and deposition of airborne volcanic material (termed tephra) a potential source of Fe. Here, we investigate the geochemical and Fe isotopic ( Fe) composition of tephra layers, sediments, and mixed tephra-sediment samples from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Hole 1396C, located offshore the volcanically active island of Montserrat in the Lesser Antilles, Caribbean Sea. We find that buried tephras, which have experienced diagenesis, exhibit lighter Fe (relative to standard IRMM-524a) compositions (down to −0.26 ± 0.04‰, 2SD) than fresh tephra deposited …

A Thermoanalytical Insight Into The Composition Of Biodegradable Polymers And Commercial Products By Ega-Ms And Py-Gc-Ms, Falco F De, Tommaso Nacci, Lee Durndell, Richard C. Thompson, Ilaria Degano, Francesca Modugno

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Biodegradable polymers are proposed as a potential solution to environmental problems related to plastic pollution. Potential benefits have been suggested in applications such as agricultural mulching and fishing gear, where there can be considerable difficulty recovering products from the environment at the end of their service life. Biodegradation is a complex process influenced by both the properties of the material and the receiving environment in which it needs to biodegrade. Assessing the degradation process necessitates the chemical composition (i.e. polymer and additives) of biodegradable products to be characterised by reliable analytical methods. Pyrolysis coupled to Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry …