Digital Commons Network^™

The Problem Of Insight: An Interpretive Phenomenological Approach To Understanding Awareness Following Acquired Brain Injury, David Bennett, Alyson Norman, Mark Holloway

School of Psychology

Context: Acquired brain injury (ABI) can result in executive impairments that can detrimentally impact an individual’s level of insight into the changes in functioning caused by their ABI. This, along with the difficulty professionals have in identifying executive impairments and relating these to functional changes, can lead to wrongful assumptions of functional abilities among those affected. Objective: This study aimed to explore the experience of individuals with ABI who demonstrate an impairment of insight with a view to documenting specific examples of impaired insight. Method: Four participants took part in a semi-structured interview analysed using interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). Feedback …

Has Anything Changed For Fibromyalgia? Focus Groups With Patients On Their Lived Experiences In England, Cosima Locher, Anna Kharko, Joseph W. Lanario, Leo Druart, Kirralise Hansford, Helen Koechlin, Anthony Davies

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Background While awareness of Fibromyalgia (FM) has evolved across healthcare and social settings, individuals with FM continue reporting poor understanding of their condition in the everyday. Objective To explore the lived experiences and subjective illness narratives of individuals with FM, focusing on personal understandings of FM, outlook on healthcare, and perceived attitudes of surrounding peers. Methods We carried out four online focus groups with individuals diagnosed with FM. Participants were recruited from a pool of patients in a pain management centre in the Southwest of England, UK, that previously took part in a FM management course, ‘Body Reprogramming Course’ (BRC). …

Sustainable Food Systems And Planetary Health Education For Nutritionists And Dietitians:: Prioritising Curriculum Concepts With Q Methodology, Liza Barbour, Sarah Browne, Tracy Everitt, Clare Pettinger, Jessica Wegener, Tina Farokhifar, Sarah Kim, Charlene Tsen, Gary Bonar, Liesel Carlsson

School of Health Professions

Purpose: The global food system is undermining human and planetary health. Urgenttransdisciplinary action is required among food system stakeholders equipped to address complexchallenges. This study identified and prioritised curriculum concepts for tertiary education, with theaim of preparing entry-level nutritionists and dietitians to contribute to sustainable food systems andplanetary health within their practice.Methodology: A mixed-methods Q study was conducted. Curriculum concepts were identified fromliterature and an online survey (n 84, 23 countries), then prioritised by workshop participants (n 43, 11countries) based on relevance for entry-level nutritionists and dietitians. Participants reflected on theirdecision-making process using a post-workshop survey. Data were analysed using …

Accuracy Improvements For Electroencephalography (Eeg) Eye State Classification Using Extreme Gradient Boosting And Cluster Ensembles, Hossein Ahmadi, Mehrbakhsh Nilashi, Abdullah Alghamdi, Rabab Ali Abumalloh, Mesfer Alrizq, Sultan Alyami, Waleed Abdu Zogaan, Fatima Khan Nayer

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Electroencephalography (EEG) eye state classification is crucial as it enables noninvasive monitoring and identification of different eye states. This importance has been underscored in studies exploring the use of machine learning techniques for accurate classification. Previous research has primarily applied supervised learning methods to EEG signal analysis for eye state classification using real-world datasets, focusing on improving accuracy through novel algorithms. Achieving high classification accuracy remains a key objective in EEG signal analysis. This study introduces a hybrid method designed to handle multivariate signals and nonlinearity. By integrating both supervised and unsupervised learning, the proposed approach aims to achieve high …

Culture: The Missing Link In Sustainable Food Systems, Nathan Einbinder

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

This paper explores the sustainability potential of food and farming culture, which is largely overlooked by mainstream approaches for transitioning food systems. I present two cases where food and farming culture is alive and thriving—in the Maya-Achí territory of Guatemala and in Wales—illustrating how cultural practices and values may contribute to global sustainability challenges and resilience.

Organising Care For Complexity: A Pathways Model For Adult Community Intellectual Disability Services, Rohit Shankar, Indermeet Sawhney, Samuel Tromans, Bhathika Perera, Laura Korb, Rory Sheehan, Heather Hanna, Richard Laugharne, Niall O'Kane, Jana Devilliers, Ganesan Rajagopal, Lance Watkins, Jane Mccarthy, Kiran Purandare, Regi Alexander, Ashok Roy, Asif Zia, Satheesh Gangadharan, Angela Hassiotis

Peninsula Medical School

Adult community intellectual disability services in the United Kingdom (UK) are required to deliver specialist, evidence-based care for a variety of conditions while minimising restrictive practices and reliance on inpatient provision. Care pathway models have emerged as a potential mechanism to reconcile these aims yet remain under-used in care philosophies in intellectual disabilities. We propose a generalisable pathways model for community intellectual disability services and examine its implications for policy, clinical practice, and research. The model integrates care navigation, proportionate specialist input, and defined clinical condition care including behaviours that challenge, mental and physical health, forensics, neurodevelopmental conditions, epilepsy, and …

Species-Dependent Gazing Behavior Of Emotional Facial Expressions In Dogs (Canis Familiaris) And Adult Humans (Homo Sapiens)., Heini Törnqvist, Gray S. Atherton, Liam Cross, Sanni Somppi, Jarkko Hautala, Miiamaaria V. Kujala

School of Psychology

Emotional expressions play an important part in social communication of dogs and humans, but comparative studies between dogs and humans are rare. In addition, little is known about how emotions are perceived across species and how attention is divided among different parts of faces. Here, we compared the gazing behavior of dogs and adult humans toward emotional dog and human facial expressions. Dogs mostly gazed at the eye and nose areas, whereas the humans’ focus also included the mouth area. The gazing behavior of both species was affected by the facial expressions and species presented, and they gazed at emotional …

Digital Marine Citizenship Toolkit: Connecting To The Sea – The Role Of Digital Engagement For Marine Citizenship, Katharine Willis, Kizzy Beaumont

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Digital Marine Citizenship (DMC) uses creative and digital tools, often developed through artistic and creative practice, to help people connect with, care for, and takeaction for their local seas. It offers practical ways to understand our relationship withthe ocean and to play an active role in shaping sustainable coastal futures.By combining creativity and technology, and working with artists and communitiesto design meaningful experiences, DMC helps turn awareness into action and fosters a shared sense of belonging to the marine environment.This Toolkit has been created to inspire and support practitioners, community groups, and organisations who want to explore digital and creative …

Morphodynamics Of A Composite Barrier System, Westward Ho!, North Devon, Uk, Cerys Rimmer, Gerd Masselink, Mark Wiggins, Lauren Biermann

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Understanding and predicting the morphodynamic evolution of gravel barrier systems is essential for coastal management, as these features provide natural protection for infrastructure and ecosystems. This study uses the composite gravel barrier system of Westward Ho!, south west England, characterised by a sandy intertidal region and a gravel high tide ridge, to quantify the morphological behaviour of this barrier system and link the dynamics to the external forcing, notably sea-level rise and waves. Since 1887, the barrier has retreated by 97 m, with an average retreat rate of 0.71 m yr−1. Over the period 2007–2024, the system lost approximately 216,000 …

Thresholds Of Wave Forcing: Implications For Atoll Reef Dynamics Under Sea Level Rise, Mathilde Lindhart, Gerd Masselink, Ashley Holsclaw, Tim Scott

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

We investigate the response of shallow reef flow to tidal variability and wave exposure during a 4-month field campaign in southern Huvadhu Atoll, Maldives. Incident waves breaking on steep fore reefs and reef crests generate a setup proportional to offshore wave height that drives a cross-reef flow. We emphasize a critical threshold—where the depth on the reef flat equals the depth at wave breaking—that separates two distinct reef flow regimes: one dominated by strong, unidirectional flow from the ocean into the lagoon and another where wave breaking ceases, flow rates decrease, and occasionally reverse direction. Recognizing the relative importance of …

Comparison Of Three Temperate Rainforest Climate Envelopes For Britain And Ireland: Where Could Our Rainforest Be?, Katerina Chernyuk, Thomas R. Murphy, James Buckley, Mary O'Shaughnessy, Markus P. Eichhorn

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Restoration of natural habitats is now recognised as a priority in both political and scientific circles. Temperate rainforests are internationally rare and endangered habitats, which are delineated from other woody biomes by high year-round rainfall and moderate temperatures, and are restricted to mid-latitude zones of the globe. With Britain and Ireland harbouring up to 40% of the potential range of European rainforest, this is a crucial region for their protection and restoration. Recent investment in tree planting and restoration initiatives in Ireland and Britain highlight the need for informed planning of native habitat and woodland creation to ensure long-term stability …

Trapped And Traumatised: A Scoping Review Of The Psychological Sequelae Of Entrapment Following Motor Vehicle Collision, Thomas A.M. Dixon, Kara Hole, Louise Johnson, Tim Nutbeam

Peninsula Medical School

Background: Motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) are a significant public health challenge, resulting in substantial mortality and morbidity. Entrapment occurs in 12–33% of all MVCs and is associated with greater injury severity, longer on-scene time, and increased mortality. However, the psychological consequences of entrapment remain poorly characterised. Objectives: This scoping review seeks to establish the current understanding of the psychological sequelae of entrapment following MVCs and draws on insights from related fields of study in order to inform future research and clinical practice. Methods: A scoping review was undertaken following established methodological guidance. Searches were completed on NHS Knowledge and Library …

Common Octopus (Octopus Vulgaris) Blooms Off The Southwest Of The Uk: History, Trends, Causes And Consequences.: Report On Work Package 1: History, Causes And Consequences Of Octopus Blooms, Bryce Stewart, Simon Thomas, Tim J. Smyth, Molly K. James, Emma Sullivan, Alice Hall, Tully Osmond, Emma Sheehan

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) are normally uncommon in UK waters, with a mainly south-westerly distribution linked to the species’ preference for warmer conditions. However, a major population bloom occurred off southwest UK in 2025, comparable to rare historical blooms recorded in 1899–1900, 1932–33 and 1950–51. The species’ rapid growth, high fecundity and short lifespan make its populations highly responsive to environmental conditions. Evidence from fisheries landings, scientific surveys and citizen science confirmed the bloom, with commercial fisheries landings of common octopus in 2025 being almost 65 times higher than recent annual averages. The 2025 bloom and all previous blooms were …

Early Detection Of Bladder Cancer Using Advanced Feature Engineering And Swarm Intelligence Optimization On Ehrs, Xu Wang, Andrea Preston, Jonathan Aning, Michael Loizou, Shang-Ming Zhou

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Background: Bladder cancer (BC) symptoms often overlap with benign conditions, while no routine screening exists for general population. We aim to develop a machine learning (ML)-based screening pipeline for early BC detection using electronic-health-records (EHRs) in primary care. Methods: A multi-centred case-control cohort (1995–2018; n = 64,884) was created for model training and testing. We further validated the model prospectively on an independent cohort (2019–2020; n = 4,569). We proposed the Parsimony driven REweighting for Calibrated Input-based Screening for Early detection—Adjustable Grey Zone (PRECISE-AGZ), which identified influential features from 48,261 candidates and developed a calibrated logistic regression screening model with …

A Universal Of Human Social Cognition: Children From 17 Communities Process Gaze In Similar Ways, Manuel Bohn, Julia Christin Prein, Agnes Ayikoru, Florian M. Bednarski, Ardain Dzabatou, Michael C. Frank, Annette M.E. Henderson, Joan Isabella, Josefine Kalbitz, Patricia Kanngiesser, Dilara Keşşafoğlu, Bahar Köymen, Maira V. Manrique-Hernandez, Shirley Magazi, Lizbeth Mújica-Manrique, Julia Ohlendorf, Damilola Olaoba, Wesley R. Pieters, Sarah Pope-Caldwell, Katie Slocombe, Robert Z. Sparks, Jahnavi Sunderarajan, Wilson Vieira, Zhen Zhang, Yufei Zong, Roman Stengelin, Daniel B.M. Haun

School of Psychology

Theoretical accounts typically assume that key features of human socio-cognitive development are universal. This paper reports a large-scale cross-cultural study (17 communities, diverse ethnicities, N = 1,377, 709 female, mean = 5.50 years, -collected March 2022 to January 2024) on gaze following in early childhood. To test for universality, cognitive processing signatures were derived from a computational model treating gaze following as social vector estimation. Results showed substantial variation between communities and individuals. Yet, the processing signature was found in all communities. Individual differences in performance were related to children's familiarity with the data-collection device but not opportunities for social …

Restoration Enhances Carbon Storage In Mangroves After Hurricane Impacts, Robert Puschendorf

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Mangroves are globally important blue-carbon ecosystems, yet their resilience isthreatened by extreme weather events and hydrological alterations. Insoutheastern Mexico, a large mangrove die-off occurred in 1995 followingHurricane Roxanne and Tropical Storm Opal, linked to storm-surge–drivenhypersalinity, sedimentation, and prolonged flooding. In 2005, an ecologicalrestoration program was launched in the Términos Lagoon region, focusing onhydrological rehabilitation and reforestation with Avicennia germinans. Fourteenyears later, we assessed ecosystem recovery by quantifying total ecosystemcarbon stocks (TECS), defined as the sum of 0–50-cm soil organic carbon andtree biomass carbon, across conserved, degraded, and restored sites, and byreconstructing vegetation cover dynamics from multi-decadal satellite imagery(1984–2023). TECS differed …

I Wasn’T Prepared For That”: Uk Social Worker Experiences Of Training In And Knowledge Of Acquired Brain Injury, Alyson Norman, Mark Holloway

School of Psychology

Summary: Acquired brain injury is a major cause of death and disability. Due to the impact of acquired brain injury on an individual's and a family's functioning, social workers are likely to encounter individuals and families affected by the condition. This study aimed to (1) identify the existing level of knowledge and skills of social workers in working with individuals with acquired brain injury and their families and (2) examine the training needs of social workers to improve their knowledge and skills in working with those with acquired brain injury. A series of semi-structured interviews with newly qualified social workers …

Distress Calls As Social Stressors Affecting Chicken Welfare, Katherine A. Herborn, Benjamin Wilson, Sarah A. Collins, Malcolm A. Mitchell, Alan G. Mcelligott, Lucy Asher

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Social signals about current environmental risks can shape development in young animals. Distress calls made by young chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) may also encode affective state, with high arousal, potentially ‘anxiety-like’ state characterized by continuous calling, and learned helplessness or potentially ‘depression-like’ state by a more intermittent pattern. During early life (age 4–7 days), we played chicks artificial stimuli mimicking these two call patterns. Growth effects suggest caller affective state can modulate this social signal: chicks exposed to bouts of ‘Continuous’ calls grew faster and were heavier by late commercial life (day 43) than Controls. In contrast, chicks exposed to …

Manta Munchies: Plankton Dynamics And Feeding Behaviour Of Reef Manta Rays (Mobula Alfredi) Around D'Arros Island In The Seychelles, Dillys K Pouponeau, Joanna Harris, Henriette M.V Grimmel, Ellie E Moulinié, Robert W Bullock

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The reef manta ray (Mobula alfredi) is a threatened filter-feeding elasmobranchthat requires immediate management and protection across large parts of itsrange. Despite being well-studied, a detailed understanding of their feedingecology, which shapes their residency, movement patterns, and behaviour,remains underexplored. Both global and site-specific research is required to fillsignificant knowledge gaps essential for designing effective conservationstrategies for this species and their habitats. This study investigated M. alfredifeeding behaviour in relation to plankton biomass dynamics at D’Arros Island inthe Seychelles, the largest known M. alfredi aggregation site in the country and agazetted marine protected area. Plankton samples were collected, along withcorresponding environmental …

Natural And Reduced Anthropogenic Injuries Rates In Reef Manta Rays (Mobula Alfredi) From The Chagos Archipelago, Central Indian Ocean, Jessica Savage, Heather Koldewey, Tom Letessier, David Morritt, M Rowcliffe, Guy M.W. Stevens, Joanna L. Harris

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Abandoned, lost, or otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) accounts for nearly two-thirds of plastic debris in the open ocean and can entangle marine megafauna. Reef manta rays (Mobula alfredi) are susceptible to entanglement in ALDFG, with consequences ranging from sublethal injuries to mortality. Mobula alfredi are listed as Vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, in part, due to their slow reproduction rate and susceptibility to unsustainable fishing pressures. Their exposure to ALDFG could further hinder their survival; therefore, it is essential to quantify the impacts of ALDFG. This study assesses a photographic identification database for …

Explaining Transformer-Based Classification Of Radiology Reports, M Courtman, G Abdelhalim, L Sun, E Ifeachor, S Mullin, M Thurston

Peninsula Medical School

ObjectivesDeep learning models developed for the classification of radiological reports have lacked explainability. We aimed to validate and explain a pretrained classification model by applying it to the removal of confounding data from a radiological dataset.MethodsTwo radiologists categorized 2038 anonymized MRI head free-text radiology reports for abnormality and for small vessel disease presence. Of these reports, 80% (n = 1630) were used to fine-tune pretrained transformer models to classify scans. Five-fold cross-validation was used in model development. The models were tested on the remaining 20% of the reports (n = 408). SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were used to explain the …

The Impact Of Skin Tone On Performance Of Pulse Oximeters Used By Nhs England Covid Oximetry @Home Scheme: Measurement And Diagnostic Accuracy Study, Exakt Study Investigators, Daniel S Martin, James C Doidge, Doug Gould, Tasnin Shahid, Alex Cowden, Walton N Charles, Amelia Francis Johnson, Roger Garrett, Catherine Mbema, Olusegun Olusanya, Eugene Healy, Kathryn Rowan, Paul Mouncey, David A Harrison

Peninsula Medical School

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of skin tone on the measurement and diagnostic accuracy of five fingertip pulse oximeters used by patients in the NHS (National Health Service) England COVID Oximetry @home scheme.

DESIGN: Measurement and diagnostic accuracy study (exploring pulse oximeter accuracy across skin tones-EXAKT).

SETTING: Twenty four intensive care units in England between June 2022 and August 2024.

PARTICIPANTS: 903 critically ill adults admitted to intensive care units screened for or enrolled into a trial evaluating different approaches to oxygen therapy.

INTERVENTIONS: Pulse oximetry derived peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) measurements were compared with paired arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) …

Only One Percent Of Important Shark And Ray Areas In The Western Indian Ocean Are Fully Protected From Fishing Pressure, Jesse E. M. Cochran, Ryan Charles, Andrew J. Temple, Peter M. Kyne, Emiliano García‐Rodríguez, Adriana Gonzalez‐Pestana, Amanda Batlle‐Morera, Théophile L. Mouton, Asia O. Armstrong, Christoph A. Rohner, Darren J. Coker, Royale S. Hardenstine, Alexander Kattan, Ashlie J. Mcivor, Viktor Nunes Peinemann, Kaitlyn A. O'Toole, Lea Palm, Eloise B. Richardson, Kalli Valappil Akhilesh, Haleh Ali Abedi, Reem K. Almealla, Dareen Almojil, Samantha Andrzejaczek, Arzucan N. Askin, Avik A. Banerjee, Hamid R. Bargahi, Alissa J. Barnes, Svetlana Barteneva‐Vitry, Siamak Behzadi, Aymeric Bein

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) is known for its high diversity of chondrichthyans (sharks, rays, and chimaeras). However, intense fishing pressure has led to severe population declines and local extinctions of several species. The Important Shark and Ray Area (ISRA) process is a collaborative, evidence-based approach used to identify critical habitat for chondrichthyans. We analysed ISRAs across the WIO to quantify the diversity of research methods used to identify them, evaluate spatial overlap with designated marine protected areas (MPAs), model the influence of several species- and jurisdiction-specific variables on ISRA delineation, and explore the importance of incorporating unpublished data into …

Lung Epithelial And Alveolar Macrophage-Like Cell Interactions Significantly Modify Innate Responses To Bacterial Endotoxin With The Involvement Of Direct Cellular Contacts, Tnf-Α, Icam1 And Mcp-1, Connor Wood, Shagun Khera, Minjeong Woo, Vikram Sharma, Justyna Lopatecka, Frederic Coulon, Zaheer Nasir, Vincent Delorme, Simon K. Jackson, György Fejer

School of Biomedical Sciences

Introduction: Lung alveolar macrophages (AMs) and epithelial cells form the first line of defense against inhaled pathogens. Their interactions strongly influence innate immune responses in the lung, yet the mechanisms underlying this cross-talk remain incompletely understood. Methods: In this study, we established a co-culture system using a primary model of AMs (MPI alveolar macrophage-like cells) and MLE-12 alveolar epithelial cells to investigate innate responses and cellular interactions during bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TLR4 activation. Results: Cytokine and chemokine profiling revealed that co-cultures exhibited significantly enhanced proinflammatory responses to both LPS and TLR2 ligands—including IL-6, TNF-a, and MCP-1 secretion—compared with mono-cultures. Strikingly, …

Behavioral Responses Of Goose-Beaked Whales (Ziphius Cavirostris) To Simulated Military Sonar, Brandon Southall, Robert Schick, William Cioffi, Stacy Deruiter, Heather Foley, Catriona Harris, Anne Harshbarger, J Joseph, T Margolina, Doug Nowacek, Nicola Quick, Zach Swaim, Len Thomas, Danielle Waples, Daniel Webster, Jillian Wisse, Andrew Read

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

We report direct measurements of changes in diving and movement behavior for 53 goose-beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) in relation to experimentally controlled mid-frequency (3–4 kHz) active sonar (MFAS) signals. These signals simulate powerful Navy sources that have been associated with multiple mortal stranding events for this species. We deployed a multi-scale combination of tags to monitor individual whales, including 50 long-duration (weeks), coarse-resolution satellite-transmitting tags and 3 short-duration (hours), high-resolution archival depth, orientation, and acoustic tags. We evaluated behavioral responses during 13 experimental trials (9 MFAS; 4 no-MFAS controls), resulting in 72 exposure events; some individuals were exposed in multiple …

Light Is Not Always Right: Peri-Iridial Lightness Reduces Attractiveness Via Perceived Sex-Typicality Across Human Populations, Vojtěch Fiala, Juan Olvido Perea-García, Petr Tureček, Sławomir Wacewicz, Juan David Leongómez, Šimon Pokorný, Ondřej Pavlovič, S. Adil Saribay, Farid Pazhoohi, Robert Mbe Akoko, Karel Kleisner

School of Psychology

Abstract: Evolutionary psychology views the human eye as special. In particular, it claims that the light peri-iridial tissues surrounding a relatively darker iris form a combination that sets us apart from other primates. From this perspective, much less attention has been paid to how eye colouration varies between humans, although evidence indicates that variations in peri-iridial and iridial colouration influence both perceived facial attractiveness and sex-typicality. To determine what aspects of eye colouration influence the perception of faces, we have measured the colour of peri-iridial eye tissues (‘the white of the eye’) and the iris in nine samples from seven …

Removing Of Erroneous Penicillin Allergy Labels (Repeal), Neil Powell

School of Biomedical Sciences Theses

BackgroundPenicillin allergy records are common; 15% of hospital inpatients report a penicillin allergy record, but the majority, estimated to be >95%, can take penicillin after formal testing. Penicillin allergy records are associated with several patient, healthcare-system and wider societal harms thought to be due to the avoidance of non-penicillin antibiotics, which are often first line for common infections. Testing patients with penicillin allergy records and removing them if they test negative is called penicillin allergy de-labelling and is traditionally the role of allergists. More recently, non-allergy healthcare workers have been shown to be able to safely remove low risk penicillin …

Climate Change Impacts On Forest Canopy Temperatures: From Mechanisms To Implications, William Hagan Brown

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

Forests are a vital interface between the biosphere and the atmosphere. As global temperatures rise due to increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, it is important to understand the response of forest tree canopy leaf temperature (T_can). Additionally, understanding variation in T_can and regulation across species within ecosystems is crucial for understanding how climate change affects plants. Thus, this research aimed to measure T_can in temperate and tropical forests under contrasting environmental conditions to advance understanding of T_can. At the Birmingham Institute of Forest Research Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment (BIFoR-FACE) site, continuous thermal infrared (TIR) …

Characterisation Of Biodegradable Polymers And Their Degradation In The Environment, Robyn Barrett

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

The escalating accumulation of persistent plastic waste necessitates the transition to sustainable materials, with bio-based and/or biodegradable polymers increasingly adopted for applications, such as forestry tree shelters, where retrieval is costly and impractical. However, the true environmental fate and long-term stability of these complex bio-based and/or biodegradable polymer products remain uncertain. This uncertainty is exacerbated by reliance on conventional degradation assessments that employ indirect metrics (e.g., carbonyl index, CO$_2$ evolution) under ideal laboratory conditions, often failing to predict performance in the heterogeneous and complex natural environment. This research addressed this critical analytical gap by establishing a high-resolution, untargeted chemical framework …

Investigating The Impact Of Carboxylated Polystyrene Nanoplastics In The Liver Using Cell Lines And Precision-Cut Liver Slices, Namrata Pandey, Paula Boeira, Nathaniel J. Clark, Eleanor T. Walker, Somaiah Aroori, Jemimah Denson, Richard C. Thompson, Matthew E. Cramp, Shilpa Chokshi, Ashwin Dhanda

Peninsula Medical School

Background and Aims: Increasing reports of plastic accumulation in human tissue have raised concerns about potential adverse health outcomes. Evidence of negative effects of nanoplastics is heterogeneous and provides limited insights into the underlying pathogenic toxicity mechanisms in humans. Methods: In the present study, carboxylate-modified fluorescently labelled polystyrene nanoparticles (PS NPs) were used to investigate uptake and cytotoxicity in three different hepatic models of varying complexity, including HepG2 cells, IHH cells, and human precision-cut liver slices (hPCLS). Results: The results show model- and dose-dependent effects on hepatocytes. 74.2% ± 13.4% of the IHH cells showed PS NPs uptake at 0.1 …