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Using Thermal Imaging Data To Explore Behaviour In A Critically Endangered Frog Species, Craugastor Ranoides, Victoria Wakeham Jan 2024

Using Thermal Imaging Data To Explore Behaviour In A Critically Endangered Frog Species, Craugastor Ranoides, Victoria Wakeham

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Understanding a species behaviour, in particular behavioural thermoregulation, is important as it can indicate how well the species will adapt to changing environments, such as climate change. Ectotherms are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate warming as they rely on environmental conditions to regulate their body temperature and physiological functions. Thermal imaging can be used as a non-invasive method to study thermal behaviour. Thermal images measure the surface temperature of species as well as surrounding substrate. The present study used Craugastor ranoides, to gain insights into different behaviours at population level: behavioural thermoregulation, and using temperature variation across the …


Investigating Trade-Offs In Strength, Skill And Vigour In Pagurus Bernhardus, Joshua Le Pla Jan 2024

Investigating Trade-Offs In Strength, Skill And Vigour In Pagurus Bernhardus, Joshua Le Pla

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

The ability to win contests is vital for securing the valuable resources individuals need for survival, or in some cases to secure mating opportunities. Therefore, fighting can have a strong influence over fitness, and much research has been carried out to identify and understand the traits influencing fighting ability, also known as resource holding potential (RHP). RHP has been found to be influenced by a wide range of factors including morphology, physiology, vigour and, more recently, skill. These factors are typically analysed in isolation from one another, so as to identify the individual impact of each trait. However, to gain …


Using Ecosystem Services Mapping In Deep-Sea Marine Spatial Planning, Giulia La Bianca Jan 2024

Using Ecosystem Services Mapping In Deep-Sea Marine Spatial Planning, Giulia La Bianca

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Assessing and mapping ecosystem services (ES) has emerged as an important practice to support natural resource management and set conservation priorities. This is recognised as useful in enabling simultaneous attainment of socio-economic and ecological goals. Yet there exists a bias towards assessing ES in terrestrial and coastal systems. Deep-sea applications are particularly scant. Assessing ES provided by the deep sea is undermined by the lack of ecological data and scientific understanding of the links between ecosystem components and human well-being. Thus, novel tools are required to translate existing deep-sea ES knowledge into Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), while maintaining acceptable levels …


Navigating The Complexity Of Applying Nutrition Evidence To Individualised Care: Summary Of An Academy Of Nutrition Sciences Position Paper, Judith Buttriss, Mary Hickson, Kevin Whelan, Christine Williams Jan 2024

Navigating The Complexity Of Applying Nutrition Evidence To Individualised Care: Summary Of An Academy Of Nutrition Sciences Position Paper, Judith Buttriss, Mary Hickson, Kevin Whelan, Christine Williams

School of Health Professions

Diet is key to the maintenance of health and crucial in the prevention and management of many diseases. Modified nutrient intake may become essential to prevent deficiency, optimise development and health or manage symptoms and disease progression. Adding to the complexity, disease and its treatment can also affect taste, appetite and ability to access and prepare foods. Coupled with this, individual requirements for energy, macronutrients and micronutrients are influenced by factors such as life stage (age, growth, pregnancy, etc.) and health status, which can affect the processes of consuming, digesting, absorbing, metabolising or excreting nutrients. First and foremost, dietary advice …


Taking Sides? Aspect Has Limited Influence On Soil Environment Or Litter Decomposition In Pan-European Study Of Roadside Verges, A. Amstutz, L. B. Firth, J. I. Spicer, P. De Frenne, L. Gómez-Aparicio, B. J. Graae, S. Kuś, S. Lindmo, A. Orczewska, F. Rodríguez-Sánchez, P. Vangansbeke, T. Vanneste, M. E. Hanley Jan 2024

Taking Sides? Aspect Has Limited Influence On Soil Environment Or Litter Decomposition In Pan-European Study Of Roadside Verges, A. Amstutz, L. B. Firth, J. I. Spicer, P. De Frenne, L. Gómez-Aparicio, B. J. Graae, S. Kuś, S. Lindmo, A. Orczewska, F. Rodríguez-Sánchez, P. Vangansbeke, T. Vanneste, M. E. Hanley

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

In addition to well-known effects on species ecophysiology, phenology, and distributions, climate change is widely predicted to impact essential ecosystem services such as decomposition and nutrient cycling. While temperature and soil moisture are thought to influence litter decomposition, elucidating consistent soil process responses to observed or predicted shifts in climate have proven difficult to evidence. Here we investigated how aspect (i.e., north-south orientation), a natural model for variation in soil temperature, influenced soil physico-chemical conditions and decomposition of two standardised litter types (Green tea and Rooibos teabags) in Pole-facing (PF) and Equator-facing (EF) roadside verges spanning a 3000 km and …


Collaborative Care Intervention For Individuals With Severe Mental Illness: The Partners2 Programme Including Complex Intervention Development And Cluster Rct, Humera Plappert, Richard Byng, Siobhan Theresa Reilly, Charley Hobson-Merrett, Jon Allard, Elina Baker, Nicky Britten, Melanie Calvert, Michael Clark, Siobhan Creanor, Linda Davies, Rebecca Denyer, Julia Frost, Linda Gask, Bliss Gibbons, John Gibson, Laura Gill, Ruth Gwernan-Jones, Joanne Hosking, Peter Huxley, Alison Jeffery, Benjamin Jones, Tom Keeley, Richard Laugharne, Steven Marwaha, Claire Planner, Tim Rawcliffe, Ameeta Retzer, Debra Richards, Ruth Sayers Jan 2024

Collaborative Care Intervention For Individuals With Severe Mental Illness: The Partners2 Programme Including Complex Intervention Development And Cluster Rct, Humera Plappert, Richard Byng, Siobhan Theresa Reilly, Charley Hobson-Merrett, Jon Allard, Elina Baker, Nicky Britten, Melanie Calvert, Michael Clark, Siobhan Creanor, Linda Davies, Rebecca Denyer, Julia Frost, Linda Gask, Bliss Gibbons, John Gibson, Laura Gill, Ruth Gwernan-Jones, Joanne Hosking, Peter Huxley, Alison Jeffery, Benjamin Jones, Tom Keeley, Richard Laugharne, Steven Marwaha, Claire Planner, Tim Rawcliffe, Ameeta Retzer, Debra Richards, Ruth Sayers

Peninsula Medical School

Background and aims: Individuals living with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar can have significant emotional, cognitive, physical and social challenges. Most people with severe mental illness in the United Kingdom do not receive specialist mental health care. Collaborative care is a system of support that combines clinical and organisational components to provide integrated and person-centred care. It has not been tested for severe mental illness in the United Kingdom. We aimed to develop and evaluate a primary care-based collaborative care model (PARTNERS) designed to improve quality of life for people with diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar or other …


Guidelines For Protecting And Promoting Decapod Crustacean Welfare In Research, Mark Briffa Jan 2024

Guidelines For Protecting And Promoting Decapod Crustacean Welfare In Research, Mark Briffa

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The decapod order contains ~15,000 species, including crabs, lobsters, crayfish, prawns, and shrimps. The idea that these animals might experience pain was long dismissed because they were thought to respond to noxious stimuli and tissue damage purely by nociceptive reflex—a position questioned by Sherwin (2001). Later experimental studies demonstrated that their responses were complex, long-lasting, and largely consistent with criteria for pain that had been produced initially for vertebrates (Elwood 2019). While the nature and extent of potential sentience in decapods remains an active area of research, these animals were recently recognized as sentient for the purposes of UK law, …


Aquaculture In Zambia: The Current Status, Challenges, Opportunities And Adaptable Lessons Learnt From China, Lin Zhang, Sahya Maulu, Fenglei Hua, Majory K.H. Chama, Pao Xu Jan 2024

Aquaculture In Zambia: The Current Status, Challenges, Opportunities And Adaptable Lessons Learnt From China, Lin Zhang, Sahya Maulu, Fenglei Hua, Majory K.H. Chama, Pao Xu

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

As a land-locked country in Southern Africa, Zambia is rich in natural resources suitable for fish production. However, aquaculture is still in its infancy with enormous potential as most of Zambia’s fish now comes from capture fisheries. The aim of this study was to review the recent progress, status, challenges, and opportunities in Zambia’s aquaculture industry while drawing some lessons from China’s aquaculture experience, focusing on policy instruments, external support, quality seeds, and the investment environment for possible adaptation. To achieve this, we reviewed the existing literature about aquaculture in Zambia. This paper starts by reviewing the overall fishery sector’s …


The Application Of Protease In Aquaculture: Prospects For Enhancing The Aquafeed Industry, Shiyou Chen, Sahya Maulu, Jie Wang, Xiaoze Xie, Xiaofang Liang, Hao Wang, Junjun Wang, Min Xue Jan 2024

The Application Of Protease In Aquaculture: Prospects For Enhancing The Aquafeed Industry, Shiyou Chen, Sahya Maulu, Jie Wang, Xiaoze Xie, Xiaofang Liang, Hao Wang, Junjun Wang, Min Xue

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Low-fishmeal and protein-saving diets are two prominent nutritional strategies utilized to address challenges related to the scarcity and sustainability of protein sources in aquaculture. However, these diets have been associated with adverse effects on the growth performance, feed utilization, and disease resistance of aquatic animals. To mitigate these challenges, exogenous protease has been applied to enhance the quality of diets with lower protein contents or fishmeal alternatives, thereby improving the bioavailability of nutritional ingredients. Additionally, protease preparations were also used to enzymatically hydrolyze fishmeal alternatives, thus enhancing their nutritional utilization. The present review aims to consolidate recent research progress on …


Labembryocam: An Opensource Phenotyping System For Developing Aquatic Animals, Ziad Ibbini, Maria Bruning, Sakina Allili, Luke A. Holmes, Ellen Tully, Jamie Mccoy, Benjamin Larsen, Tony Wilson, Guy Ludford, Jack Barrett-Kelly, John I. Spicer, Oliver Tills Jan 2024

Labembryocam: An Opensource Phenotyping System For Developing Aquatic Animals, Ziad Ibbini, Maria Bruning, Sakina Allili, Luke A. Holmes, Ellen Tully, Jamie Mccoy, Benjamin Larsen, Tony Wilson, Guy Ludford, Jack Barrett-Kelly, John I. Spicer, Oliver Tills

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Phenomics is the acquisition of high-dimensional data on an individual-wide scale and is proving transformational in areas of biological research related to human health including medicine and the crop sciences. However, more broadly, a lack of accessible transferrable technologies and research approaches is significantly hindering the uptake of phenomics, in contrast to molecular-omics for which transferrable technologies have been a significant enabler. Aquatic embryos are natural models for phenomics, due to their small size, taxonomic diversity, ecological relevance, and high levels of temporal, spatial and functional change. Here, we present LabEmbryoCam, an autonomous phenotyping platform for timelapse imaging of developing …


Sediment Sorting Within A Relatively Wave-Exposed And Sandy Subtidal Seagrass (Zostera Marina) Meadow, Gerd Masselink, Tom Brown, Tim Scott, Liane Brodie Jan 2024

Sediment Sorting Within A Relatively Wave-Exposed And Sandy Subtidal Seagrass (Zostera Marina) Meadow, Gerd Masselink, Tom Brown, Tim Scott, Liane Brodie

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Seagrasses impact on sedimentary intertidal and subtidal ecosystems by affecting local hydrodynamics, geomorphology and sediment properties. Their influence on hydrodynamics is to reduce flow velocities in their canopies, and this leads to increased net sedimentation rates and reduction of the grain size. Most investigations of the seagrass-hydrodynamics-sediment feedback system has been carried out over silt and fine-sand beds under tide-dominated conditions, mostly in the intertidal zone. Here, we use sedimentological data from a relatively wave-exposed and subtidal seagrass (Zostera marina) meadow in the Isles of Scilly with a fine-to-medium sand bed and show that the sand within the seagrass meadow …


Identifying And Quantifying Pelagic Organisms Around Seamounts, Atolls, And Islands In The Chagos Archipelago In Relation To Local Oceanographic Processes, Dannielle Sophie Eager Jan 2024

Identifying And Quantifying Pelagic Organisms Around Seamounts, Atolls, And Islands In The Chagos Archipelago In Relation To Local Oceanographic Processes, Dannielle Sophie Eager

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Topographic features, such as seamounts and atolls, are commonly identified as biodiversity hotspots that are key areas of productivity in an otherwise oligotrophic Indian Ocean. Whilst these sites of increased biomass are frequently identified, the oceanographic drivers that underpin the spatiotemporal distributions of biomass are not. If effective conservation measures are to be continued and implemented in regions such as the Chagos Archipelago Marine Protected Area (MPA) then the spatial variability of biomass and the physical drivers must be elucidated. This study presents case studies at Sandes seamount and Egmont atoll in the Chagos Archipelago identifying the distributions and behavioural …


Landscapes Of Play: An Exploration And Illumination Of Children’S Unsupervised Play Close To Home And A Researcher’S Journey To Becoming Posthuman., Mandy Andrews Jan 2024

Landscapes Of Play: An Exploration And Illumination Of Children’S Unsupervised Play Close To Home And A Researcher’S Journey To Becoming Posthuman., Mandy Andrews

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

Title: Landscapes of Play: An exploration and illumination of children’s unsupervised play close to home and a researcher’s journey to becoming posthuman. Author: Mandy Jo Andrews This thesis explores children’s play experiences and engagements out of doors close to home. Adopting a Deleuzian informed posthumanism the researcher’s journey towards immanence prompts re-thinking about play, childhood-nature entanglements, and play-space-place-player generation. Children’s unsupervised play outside of organised settings such as school or adventure playgrounds is less researched than that of organised settings. This thesis puts to work Deleuze’s process philosophy and Barad’s agential realism, together with Haraway’s biology informed multispecies manifesto, Bennett’s …


Understanding Dyslexia In Secondary Schools: Perspectives Of Students (With And Without Confirmed Diagnosis) And Educators, Kerissa Nelson Jan 2024

Understanding Dyslexia In Secondary Schools: Perspectives Of Students (With And Without Confirmed Diagnosis) And Educators, Kerissa Nelson

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 seeks high quality education for all (UNSDG4). This requires classrooms to have improved access and opportunity for all students including those with dyslexia. Research regarding dyslexic students’ experiences and inclusive education have not yet been thoroughly investigated. This research specifically addressed the experiences that both shape and are shaped by one’s own perspectives and those of others in their environment. The study’s objectives were to create knowledge and promote understanding of the experiences of students with dyslexia and to gain educators’ perspectives on classroom practices. The study drew on these different perspectives using …


‘The More Empowered I Feel, The More Vulnerable I Become’: Exploring The Entanglements Of Human Rights Education (Hre), Legal Discourses And Notions Of Agency And Vulnerability Amongst Human Rights Educators In Colombia, Claudia Blandon Jan 2024

‘The More Empowered I Feel, The More Vulnerable I Become’: Exploring The Entanglements Of Human Rights Education (Hre), Legal Discourses And Notions Of Agency And Vulnerability Amongst Human Rights Educators In Colombia, Claudia Blandon

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

In the 21st century, notions of human rights are symbols of dignity, freedom, and equality (UNDHR, 1948) and equated with notions of empowerment. Simultaneously, in an epoch of recurrent waves of displacement, international instruments of protection are failing to safeguard displaced people and those who provide sanctuary. By the end of 2022, 104 million people had been forcibly displaced globally because of conflict and human rights violations (UNHCR, 2023). Against this global backdrop, empowering women through human rights education and legal discourses has become a priority, (Bajaj et al., 2017, Altinova et al., 2019). With a firm conviction that the …


Teaching An English Geography Curriculum Abroad: Who Is The Other?, Kay Chapman Jan 2024

Teaching An English Geography Curriculum Abroad: Who Is The Other?, Kay Chapman

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

In former British colonies, such as Sri Lanka, affluent families from that country may choose to send their children to international schools because they want their children to have a British education and qualifications and be taught by British teachers. This research investigates how some of the actors involved negotiate a geography curriculum constructed for sixteen year olds in England with pupils from Sri Lanka. This small scale, multi-method, qualitative study focuses on one geography department at one international school in Sri Lanka. Data collected includes in-depth interviews with a Sri Lankan teacher, British teachers at the school and an …


'Man's Forgotten Friend': Dogs Appointed As Domesticated Companions And The Coronavirus Pandemic, Rebekah Gregory Jan 2024

'Man's Forgotten Friend': Dogs Appointed As Domesticated Companions And The Coronavirus Pandemic, Rebekah Gregory

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

The metaphorical confinement of national lockdowns saw the egocentric adoption of dogs appointed as domesticated companions. While public approval of ‘animal’ welfare legislation and the growing popularity of ‘green’ theory and industry has grown, ‘animals’ are still victim to the consumer and the anthropocentric cultures which promote individual, economic, social, and specifically ‘human’ advancement at all costs. Even though the reasons why ‘animals’ are victimised has been researched, how the pandemic has impacted upon this treatment and consumer culture’s/anthropocentrism’s influence has been somewhat absent within academic discussion. In fact, how the global events of COVID-19 have impacted upon dog treatment, …


Salivary Biomarkers: The Early Diagnosis Of Alzheimer's Disease, S. Nazir Jan 2024

Salivary Biomarkers: The Early Diagnosis Of Alzheimer's Disease, S. Nazir

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The precise identification of Alzheimer's disease and other prevalent neurodegenerative diseases remains a difficult issue that requires the development of early detection of the disease and inexpensive biomarkers that can replace the present cerebrospinal fluid and imaging biomarkers. Blood biomarkers, such as amyloid and neurofilament light, have been emphasized as an important and practical tool in a testing or examination procedure thanks to advancements in ultra-sensitive detection techniques. Although saliva is not currently being researched for neurodegenerative diseases, it is an important source of biomarkers that can be used for the identification of diseases and has some advantages over other …


“We’Ve All Come Together”: A Board Game Intervention For Children And Adults With Autism And Other Developmental Disabilities, Gray Atherton, Emily Dawson, Liam Cross Jan 2024

“We’Ve All Come Together”: A Board Game Intervention For Children And Adults With Autism And Other Developmental Disabilities, Gray Atherton, Emily Dawson, Liam Cross

School of Psychology

The authors discuss how board games offer individuals with autism (whooften struggle with social settings and require structured outlets for building relationships) an affordable, naturalistic, collaborative environmentthat is stimulating, engaging, and educational. Board games, they assert,provide opportunities to practice social skills, including cooperation andsocial deduction, essential skills for both neurotypical and atypical people.The authors include recommendations for introducing board games intospecial educational settings. K


One Hundred Years Of Eeg For Brain And Behaviour Research, Faisal Mushtaq, Dominik Welke, Anne Gallagher, Yuri G Pavlov, Layla Kouara, Jorge Bosch-Bayard, Jasper J F Van Den Bosch, Mahnaz Arvaneh, Amy R Bland, Maximilien Chaumon, Cornelius Borck, Xun He, Steven J Luck, Maro G Machizawa, Cyril Pernet, Aina Puce, Sidney J Segalowitz, Christine Rogers, Muhammad Awais, Claudio Babiloni, Neil W Bailey, Sylvain Baillet, Robert C A Bendall, Daniel Brady, Maria L Bringas-Vega, Niko A Busch, Ana Calzada-Reyes, Armand Chatard, Peter E Clayson, Michael X Cohen Jan 2024

One Hundred Years Of Eeg For Brain And Behaviour Research, Faisal Mushtaq, Dominik Welke, Anne Gallagher, Yuri G Pavlov, Layla Kouara, Jorge Bosch-Bayard, Jasper J F Van Den Bosch, Mahnaz Arvaneh, Amy R Bland, Maximilien Chaumon, Cornelius Borck, Xun He, Steven J Luck, Maro G Machizawa, Cyril Pernet, Aina Puce, Sidney J Segalowitz, Christine Rogers, Muhammad Awais, Claudio Babiloni, Neil W Bailey, Sylvain Baillet, Robert C A Bendall, Daniel Brady, Maria L Bringas-Vega, Niko A Busch, Ana Calzada-Reyes, Armand Chatard, Peter E Clayson, Michael X Cohen

School of Psychology

On the centenary of the first human EEG recording, more than 500 experts reflect on the impact that this discovery has had on our understanding of the brain and behaviour. We document their priorities and call for collective action focusing on validity, democratization and responsibility to realize the potential of EEG in science and society over the next 100 years.


The Assessment Of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines In Extreme Conditions, Andre Onife Alwyn White Jan 2024

The Assessment Of Floating Offshore Wind Turbines In Extreme Conditions, Andre Onife Alwyn White

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The purpose of this research is to assess if a floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) system that is suitable for the environmental conditions in the Scottish North Sea (SNS) is also suitable for the environmental conditions in the Jamaica Caribbean Sea (JCS). A FOWT within Jamaica is an important structure because it produces renewable energy which helps to reduce the dependence on fossil fuel as the primary source of energy. At the same time, it also contributes to reducing global warming caused by climate change effects. These structures, therefore, must be robust enough to withstand the most extreme environmental conditions …


The Three-Peat Challenge: Business As Usual, Responsible Agriculture, And Conservation And Restoration As Management Trajectories In Global Peatlands, Nicholas T. Girkin, Paul J. Burgess, Lydia Cole, Hannah V. Cooper, Coronado E Honorio, Scott J. Davidson, Jacqueline Hannam, Jim Harris, Ian Holman, Christopher S. Mccloskey, Michelle M. Mckeown, Alice M. Milner, Susan Page, Jo Smith, Dylan Young Dec 2023

The Three-Peat Challenge: Business As Usual, Responsible Agriculture, And Conservation And Restoration As Management Trajectories In Global Peatlands, Nicholas T. Girkin, Paul J. Burgess, Lydia Cole, Hannah V. Cooper, Coronado E Honorio, Scott J. Davidson, Jacqueline Hannam, Jim Harris, Ian Holman, Christopher S. Mccloskey, Michelle M. Mckeown, Alice M. Milner, Susan Page, Jo Smith, Dylan Young

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Peatlands are a globally important carbon store, but peatland ecosystems from high latitudes to the tropics are highly degraded due to increasingly intensive anthropogenic activity, making them significant greenhouse gas (GHG) sources. Peatland restoration and conservation have been proposed as a nature-based solution to climate change, by restoring the function of peatlands as a net carbon sink, but this may have implications for many local communities who rely on income from activities associated with transformed peatlands, particularly those drained for agriculture. However, without changing the way that humans interact with and exploit peatlands in most regions, peatlands will continue to …


Person Centred Care And Influencing Factors Within Mental Health Services: A Literature Review, Chloe Parkin Dec 2023

Person Centred Care And Influencing Factors Within Mental Health Services: A Literature Review, Chloe Parkin

South West Clinical School Journal

#400WORDS: KNOWLEDGE + ACTION


Exploring And Developing Critical Care Nurses’ Understanding Of ‘Big Data’ And Identifying Research Opportunities, Anisa M. Mursal Dec 2023

Exploring And Developing Critical Care Nurses’ Understanding Of ‘Big Data’ And Identifying Research Opportunities, Anisa M. Mursal

South West Clinical School Journal

#400WORDS: CHIEF NURSING OFFICER’S RESEARCH FELLOWS EVIDENCE IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS


Exploring Basic Science Knowledge Retention Within A Cohort Of Undergraduate Medical Students In The United Kingdom: A Longitudinal Study, Idrees Zafar, John Chilton, James Edwards, Helen Watson, Daniel Zahra Dec 2023

Exploring Basic Science Knowledge Retention Within A Cohort Of Undergraduate Medical Students In The United Kingdom: A Longitudinal Study, Idrees Zafar, John Chilton, James Edwards, Helen Watson, Daniel Zahra

Peninsula Medical School

Background Clinical reasoning is reliant on students having acquired a strong foundation in the basic sciences. However, there remains uncertainty regarding whether medical students are maintaining this knowledge over the span of their degrees. Therefore, this project aimed to assess long-term retention of basic science knowledge within a cohort of students from an undergraduate medical school in the United Kingdom (UK). Methods This longitudinal study followed a cohort of students, from their first to final year. In their final year, participants sat a bespoke formative basic science knowledge assessment that utilised 46 single-best-answer questions. To examine for long-term attainment differences, …


Recovery Of Cirl Bunting, Emberiza Cirlus, Song Diversity After Translocation, Sa Collins, S Croft, C Jeffs, S Brown, Sr De Kort Dec 2023

Recovery Of Cirl Bunting, Emberiza Cirlus, Song Diversity After Translocation, Sa Collins, S Croft, C Jeffs, S Brown, Sr De Kort

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

In order to improve conservation outcomes translocation or reintroduction of individuals may be necessary. When song learning birds are translocated, changes in the cultural diversity of song repertoires, or abnormal vocalizations, in the new population can be a problem. We monitored song production over 8 years in a reintroduced population of the cirl bunting (Emberiza cirlus). Chicks were removed from nests in Devon, UK, between 2006 and 2011, translocated at 6 days old to be hand-reared and released in Cornwall, UK. Recordings at the release site in 2011 showed a significantly reduced population repertoire and individuals sang abnormal song types …


Behavioral Motor Performance, Raz Leib, Ian S. Howard, Matthew Millard, David W. Franklin Dec 2023

Behavioral Motor Performance, Raz Leib, Ian S. Howard, Matthew Millard, David W. Franklin

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The human sensorimotor control system has exceptional abilities to perform skillful actions. We easily switch between strenuous tasks that involve brute force, such as lifting a heavy sewing machine, and delicate movements such as threading a needle in the same machine. Using a structure with different control architectures, the motor system is capable of updating its ability to perform through our daily interaction with the fluctuating environment. However, there are issues that make this a difficult computational problem for the brain to solve. The brain needs to control a nonlinear, nonstationary neuromuscular system, with redundant and occasionally undesired degrees of …


Significant Spaces: Exploring The Health And Wellbeing Impacts Of Natural Environments, Denise Hewlett, Debra Gray, Richard Gunton, Tom Munro, Sheela Agarwal, Martin Breed, Chris Skelly, Philip Weinstein, Ainara Terradillos, Natalia Lavrushkina, Danny Byrne Dec 2023

Significant Spaces: Exploring The Health And Wellbeing Impacts Of Natural Environments, Denise Hewlett, Debra Gray, Richard Gunton, Tom Munro, Sheela Agarwal, Martin Breed, Chris Skelly, Philip Weinstein, Ainara Terradillos, Natalia Lavrushkina, Danny Byrne

Plymouth Business School

There is now considerable evidence that access to good quality green and/or blue spaces is good for peoples’ health and wellbeing. Concomitantly, there has been increasing emphasis, in national policies, on finding ways to use the natural environment as a key resource to support people’s health: all of which has been accelerated since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, key research gaps remain. This chapter reviews what we do and don’t know about the impact of nature on people’s health. We argue that the integration of research with planning tools is key to achieving environmental planning and development that …


Managing Protected Areas: People And Places, Niall Finneran, Denise Hewlett, Richard Clarke, Richard Gunton, Debra Gray, Ainara Terradillos, Danny Byrne, Sheela Agarwal Dec 2023

Managing Protected Areas: People And Places, Niall Finneran, Denise Hewlett, Richard Clarke, Richard Gunton, Debra Gray, Ainara Terradillos, Danny Byrne, Sheela Agarwal

Plymouth Business School

This open access book brings together 16 specially commissioned chapters drawn from a range of different professional-practitioner and academic global perspectives on the importance of the relationship between people and green and blue spaces. It focuses on issues surrounding the importance of natural environments on public health and wellbeing, and the environmental, cultural, and social importance of green and blue spaces that can result through responsible and sustainable adaptive management processes. It explores how the Covid-19 pandemic forced reconsiderations of our relationship with these natural spaces and highlights the important impact of the pace of climate change. While not pretending …


The Effect Of Hedgerow Age On Vegetative Species Diversity, Matthew Blogg Dec 2023

The Effect Of Hedgerow Age On Vegetative Species Diversity, Matthew Blogg

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Hedgerows are a distinctive part of the English countryside and provide many ecological benefits and services. Over recent history, hedgerows have been removed and replanted, resulting in a matrix of different aged hedgerows across the country. In this study, the effect of hedgerow age on vegetative species diversity was tested to see if older hedgerows contained a higher species diversity than younger hedgerows. Four hedgerows of varying ages were tested on an urban farm in Plymouth, Southwest England. Percentage cover of each species was measured across ten samples in each hedgerow, with a Shannon’s diversity score being calculated for each …