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Postgraduate Funding - Supplying The Future Generation Of Researchers And Technicians, Mp Fuller Aug 2014

Postgraduate Funding - Supplying The Future Generation Of Researchers And Technicians, Mp Fuller

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Of the 2.5 million students studying at universities in the UK some 30% [500000 postgraduate taught (PGT) + 100000 postgraduate research (PGR) students] are studying for a postgraduate degree, and the decade from 2001 to 2011 saw a 7% year-on-year increase in the number of students registering for postgraduate degrees. Within this expansion has been a healthy rise in UK students, but an even bigger rise in non-UK (overseas) students which bring large revenues to universities on top of the normal home funding. In fact, this decadal expansion in postgraduate student numbers was an unregulated or uncapped market for UK …


Bacterio-Plankton Transformation Of Diazepam And 2-Amino-5-Chlorobenzophenone In River Waters., Alan D. Tappin, J. Paul Loughnane, Alan J. Mccarthy, Mark F. Fitzsimons Aug 2014

Bacterio-Plankton Transformation Of Diazepam And 2-Amino-5-Chlorobenzophenone In River Waters., Alan D. Tappin, J. Paul Loughnane, Alan J. Mccarthy, Mark F. Fitzsimons

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Benzodiazepines are a large class of commonly-prescribed drugs used to treat a variety of clinical disorders. They have been shown to produce ecological effects at environmental concentrations, making understanding their fate in aquatic environments very important. In this study, uptake and biotransformations by riverine bacterio-plankton of the benzodiazepine, diazepam, and 2-amino-5-chlorobenzophenone, ACB (a photo-degradation product of diazepam and several other benzodiazepines), were investigated using batch microcosm incubations. These were conducted using water and bacterio-plankton populations from contrasting river catchments (Tamar and Mersey, UK), both in the presence and absence of a peptide, added as an alternative organic substrate. Incubations lasted …


Role Of Wave Forcing, Storms And Nao In Outer Bar Dynamics On A High-Energy, Macro-Tidal Beach, Gerd Masselink, Martin Austin, Tim Scott, Tim Poate, Paul Russell Aug 2014

Role Of Wave Forcing, Storms And Nao In Outer Bar Dynamics On A High-Energy, Macro-Tidal Beach, Gerd Masselink, Martin Austin, Tim Scott, Tim Poate, Paul Russell

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.


Braving Difficult Choices Alone: Children's And Adolescents' Medical Decision Making, A Ruggeri, M Gummerum, Y Hanoch Aug 2014

Braving Difficult Choices Alone: Children's And Adolescents' Medical Decision Making, A Ruggeri, M Gummerum, Y Hanoch

School of Psychology

OBJECTIVE: What role should minors play in making medical decisions? The authors examined children's and adolescents' desire to be involved in serious medical decisions and the emotional consequences associated with them. METHODS: Sixty-three children and 76 adolescents were presented with a cover story about a difficult medical choice. Participants were tested in one of four conditions: (1) own informed choice; (2) informed parents' choice to amputate; (3) informed parents' choice to continue a treatment; and (4) uninformed parents' choice to amputate. In a questionnaire, participants were asked about their choices, preference for autonomy, confidence, and emotional reactions when faced with …


A Proto-Architecture For Innate Directionally Selective Visual Maps, Sv Adams, Cm Harris Jul 2014

A Proto-Architecture For Innate Directionally Selective Visual Maps, Sv Adams, Cm Harris

School of Psychology

Self-organizing artificial neural networks are a popular tool for studying visual system development, in particular the cortical feature maps present in real systems that represent properties such as ocular dominance (OD), orientation-selectivity (OR) and direction selectivity (DS). They are also potentially useful in artificial systems, for example robotics, where the ability to extract and learn features from the environment in an unsupervised way is important. In this computational study we explore a DS map that is already latent in a simple artificial network. This latent selectivity arises purely from the cortical architecture without any explicit coding for DS and prior …


Leaving A Bequest: Living On Through Charitable Gifts, A Sargeant, C Routley Jul 2014

Leaving A Bequest: Living On Through Charitable Gifts, A Sargeant, C Routley

Plymouth Business School

Decisions taken in respect of the disposition of possessions often parallel a life transition or change in identity. In this article, we examine decisions taken in a will where disposition can be viewed not as a representation of the identities an individual wishes to shed, but rather as the continuation of those for which the deceased wishes to be remembered. We examine the meaning that such donors ascribe to their giving and the rich pattern of utility it offers both the individual and those he or she will ultimately leave behind. Using grounded theory, we report the results of 20 …


The Effect Of Molybdenum On The Molecularcontrol Of Cold Tolerance In Cauliflower(Brassica Oleracea Var. Botrytis) Artificialseeds, Hail Z. Rihan, Mohammed Al-Issawi, Wondwossen Abate Woldie, Michele Kiernan, Michael P. Fuller Jul 2014

The Effect Of Molybdenum On The Molecularcontrol Of Cold Tolerance In Cauliflower(Brassica Oleracea Var. Botrytis) Artificialseeds, Hail Z. Rihan, Mohammed Al-Issawi, Wondwossen Abate Woldie, Michele Kiernan, Michael P. Fuller

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Molybdenum (Mo) was used to improve the cold tolerance of cauliflower microshoots/artificial seeds. The optimal stage to introduce Mo to the micropropagation system was found to be the microshoots liquid culture stage, since its use within artificial seed capsules or conversion media had negative effects on conversion rate and viability. Mo was found to improve the cold tolerance of both acclimated and non-acclimated microshoots/artificial seeds. The capacity of Mo to up-regulate CBF/DREB1 in cauliflower microshoots was confirmed. Moreover, this study is the first to confirm the ability of this element to upregulate CBF/DREB1 without any low temperature treatment. Mo significantly …


From Apprenticeship To Higher Education: Navigating The Credential Landscape, Harriet Dismore Jul 2014

From Apprenticeship To Higher Education: Navigating The Credential Landscape, Harriet Dismore

Plymouth Institute of Education

No abstract provided.


Growing Up Beside You: A Relational Sociology Of Early Childhood, Nr Gabriel Jul 2014

Growing Up Beside You: A Relational Sociology Of Early Childhood, Nr Gabriel

Plymouth Institute of Education

This article will begin by outlining influential attempts by historians and sociologists to develop a more adequate theoretical understanding of past and contemporary childhoods, focusing on the major problems that stem from the pivotal role that ‘developmentalism’ plays in their arguments. I will argue that sociologists can overcome some of their deepest fears about the role of developmental psychology by developing a relational approach that integrates the biological and social aspects of children’s development. In the development of a relational sociology of early childhood we need to make important connections with closely related disciplines, but at the same time draw …


Toward A Systems-Level Understanding Of Gene Regulatory, Protein Interaction, And Metabolic Networks In Cyanobacteria, Ma Hernã¡Ndez-Prieto, Trudi A. Semeniuk, Matthias E. Futschik Jul 2014

Toward A Systems-Level Understanding Of Gene Regulatory, Protein Interaction, And Metabolic Networks In Cyanobacteria, Ma Hernã¡Ndez-Prieto, Trudi A. Semeniuk, Matthias E. Futschik

School of Biomedical Sciences

No abstract provided.


Choice Tests: Application And Relevance In Terms Of Improving Husbandry Methods And Welfare Of Captive Animals, Emma Mellor Jul 2014

Choice Tests: Application And Relevance In Terms Of Improving Husbandry Methods And Welfare Of Captive Animals, Emma Mellor

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Choice tests have been widely used across numerous species for a variety of reasons, including environmental enrichment preference, food and its presentation, enclosure and enclosure furniture preference, and mate choice. Choice tests can entail a cost to the animal, for example by making it work for access to a resource. The harder an animal is willing to work for a resource, or the higher the price it is willing to pay for it can reflect the importance of that particular resource to that individual. The use of choice tests can be useful in establishing what an animal wants or prefers …


Assessing The Impact Of Seasonal Variations On The Density Structure Of A Weak Freshwater Plume, Daniel Kelsey-Wilkinson Jul 2014

Assessing The Impact Of Seasonal Variations On The Density Structure Of A Weak Freshwater Plume, Daniel Kelsey-Wilkinson

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Freshwater plumes are features of periodically intense salinity stratification created by an ebbing tide. The dynamics of these features are important for biological events, such as the spring bloom. Using an undulating towed Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) probe with a fluorometer attached, repeated sections were completed beyond Plymouth breakwater to a moored scientific station 9.6km offshore. These data were then gridded using linear interpolation and a density ratio was calculated at 3 positions: behind the plume, plume front and in front of the plume. The ratios of influence which thermohaline properties contribute to the density structure of a water column under seasonal …


Synthesis Of H-Branch Alkanes, Michael Wilde Jul 2014

Synthesis Of H-Branch Alkanes, Michael Wilde

The Plymouth Student Scientist

The complex composition of petroleum and the chromatographic challenge it presents has led to its study becoming a key field in contemporary scientific research. Rising concerns over the impact of petroleum within the environment have spurred the need to fingerprint and identify individual oils in order to understand its fate within the environment. The complexity of petroleum lies solely in its origins and thermal processes it undergoes during formation, resulting in it containing hundreds of thousands of different, unknown organic compounds. The majority of petroleum is observed in GC analysis as a ‘hump’ of unresolvable peaks; this characteristic hump is …


The Effects Of Spatial Variance, Temperature And Ph On Bacterial Community Composition In The Sea Anemone, Anemonia Viridis., Daniel Gilbert Jul 2014

The Effects Of Spatial Variance, Temperature And Ph On Bacterial Community Composition In The Sea Anemone, Anemonia Viridis., Daniel Gilbert

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Marine organisms are well known to have associations with microorganisms and little is known about the specific nature of the microorganism host interactions. This study investigates the bacterial community composition in the sea anemone Anemonia viridis using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis; bacterial community composition was assessed for spatial variance. The results show that there was no significant variation within a location or between the locations. These results are concordant with previous studies and suggest that bacterial populations are stable in Anemonia viridis.


A Review Of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Focusing On Cardiac Involvement, Sophie Wright Jul 2014

A Review Of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Focusing On Cardiac Involvement, Sophie Wright

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a lethal x-linked recessive disorder, characterised by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, accompanied by cardiac and smooth muscle dysfunction. Although the main cause of death in DMD used to be respiratory problems caused by deterioration of the diaphragm, developments in respiratory care means that cardiac failure is now the major cause of death, despite the introduction of cardio-protective treatment such as angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors and beta-blockers. Once affected, the heart progressively deteriorates over time, with the main problem being due to the death of cardiomyocytes. A loss of dystrophin makes the sarcolemma more susceptible to damage, leading …


The Application Of Ecosystem Thresholds In The Management Of Tropical Coral Reefs: A Review And Synthesis, Alexandra Leeper Jul 2014

The Application Of Ecosystem Thresholds In The Management Of Tropical Coral Reefs: A Review And Synthesis, Alexandra Leeper

The Plymouth Student Scientist

A review and synthesis was carried out on the extensive literature concerned with ecosystem thresholds on tropical coral reefs to collate research carried out globally, and highlight gaps in the existing knowledge. This study aims to inform the future management of ecosystem thresholds of tropical coral reefs. Information was gathered from existing literature concerning ecosystem thresholds at named tropical coral reef locations and the distribution of studies was mapped in order to draw conclusions about the state of threshold research on coral reefs, and to make recommendations for future research and management. The synthesis highlighted the negative influence of removing …


Immunomodulatory Effects Of Lactobacillus Casei Shirota, Sarah Chorley Jul 2014

Immunomodulatory Effects Of Lactobacillus Casei Shirota, Sarah Chorley

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are present in the intestine and the beneficial role played by these microorganisms in humans has been extensively reported. They are frequently used as probiotics to improve some biological functions in the host and various studies have found that probiotic bacteria provide a beneficial effect on gut mucosal function, suggesting their potential effect in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. LAB have been shown to activate both systemic and secretory immune responses via many complex interactions among the different components of the intestinal ecosystem, such as microflora, epithelial cells and other immune cells (Perdigon et al., …


The Impacts Of Tuna Fisheries On The Pelagic Ecosystem In The Central West Pacific Ocean, Charlotte Reid Jul 2014

The Impacts Of Tuna Fisheries On The Pelagic Ecosystem In The Central West Pacific Ocean, Charlotte Reid

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Poster submission


Do Microplastics Affect The Bioavailability Of Harmful Pollutants?, Vicky Sleight Jul 2014

Do Microplastics Affect The Bioavailability Of Harmful Pollutants?, Vicky Sleight

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Poster presentation


Variation In Avian Egg Size And The Consequences For Offspring Fitness, Jennifer Grigg Jul 2014

Variation In Avian Egg Size And The Consequences For Offspring Fitness, Jennifer Grigg

The Plymouth Student Scientist

In oviparous species such as birds, the investment in egg size is thought to represent a strong mechanism through which maternal effects can influence components of offspring fitness. Within several avian species egg size varies significantly and is often positively correlated with hatchling phenotype, growth and survival. However, there is little direct evidence for strong positive effects of egg size on offspring quality. This review aims to evaluate the current understanding of the effects of egg size on offspring fitness and assess the factors which confound many of the studies investigating egg size effects. It is concluded that despite extensive …


Action And Language Integration: From Humans To Cognitive Robots, Am Borghi, A Cangelosi Jul 2014

Action And Language Integration: From Humans To Cognitive Robots, Am Borghi, A Cangelosi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

The topic is characterized by a highly interdisciplinary approach to the issue of action and language integration. Such an approach, combining computational models and cognitive robotics experiments with neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and linguistic approaches, can be a powerful means that can help researchers disentangle ambiguous issues, provide better and clearer definitions, and formulate clearer predictions on the links between action and language. In the introduction we briefly describe the papers and discuss the challenges they pose to future research. We identify four important phenomena the papers address and discuss in light of empirical and computational evidence: (a) the role played …


Influence Of Different Concentrations Of Salt Stress On In Vitro Multiplication Of Some Fig (Ficus Carcia L.) Cultivars, Emr Metwali, Ias Hemaid, Hs Al-Zahrani, Sm Howlader, Mp Fuller Jul 2014

Influence Of Different Concentrations Of Salt Stress On In Vitro Multiplication Of Some Fig (Ficus Carcia L.) Cultivars, Emr Metwali, Ias Hemaid, Hs Al-Zahrani, Sm Howlader, Mp Fuller

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

This work aimed to establish in-vitro plant formation from Ficus carica L. cultivars (i.e., Black Mission, Brown Turkey and Brunswick) and investigate their salt tolerance using different concentrations of NaCl. Plant growth regulators BAP, Kinetin, 2iP and NAA were evaluated during proliferation, elongation and rooting stages. Murashige and Skoog (MS) was the most superior medium for increasing explant development in most tissue culture techniques for all cultivars. BA was the best cytokinin for enhancing proliferation in cvs. Brown Turkey and Brunswick, while Kinetin was more effective in improving growth and greening parameters of cv. Black Mission. Shoot elongation of cv. …


Stemcellnet: An Interactive Platform For Network-Oriented Investigations In Stem Cell Biology, José P. Pinto, Kalathur Rk Reddy, Rui S.R. Machado, Joana M. Xavier, José Bragança, Matthias E. Futschik Jul 2014

Stemcellnet: An Interactive Platform For Network-Oriented Investigations In Stem Cell Biology, José P. Pinto, Kalathur Rk Reddy, Rui S.R. Machado, Joana M. Xavier, José Bragança, Matthias E. Futschik

School of Biomedical Sciences

No abstract provided.


Environmental Impact Assessments For Wave Energy Developments – Learning From Existing Activities And Informing Future Research, Ruth H. Leeney, Deborah Greaves, Daniel Conley, Anne Marie O'Hagan Jun 2014

Environmental Impact Assessments For Wave Energy Developments – Learning From Existing Activities And Informing Future Research, Ruth H. Leeney, Deborah Greaves, Daniel Conley, Anne Marie O'Hagan

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.


The Future Of The Northeast Atlantic Benthic Flora In A High Co2 World, Juliet Brodie, Christopher J. Williamson, Dan A. Smale, Nicholas A. Kamenos, Nova Mieszkowska, Rui Santos, Michael Cunliffe, Michael Steinke, Christopher Yesson, Kathryn M. Anderson, Valentina Asnaghi, Colin Brownlee, Heidi L. Burdett, Michael T. Burrows, Sinead Collins, Penelope J.C. Donohue, Ben Harvey, Andrew Foggo, Fanny Noisette, Joana Nunes, Federica Ragazzola, John A. Raven, Daniela N. Schmidt, David Suggett, Mirta Teichberg, Jason M. Hall-Spencer Jun 2014

The Future Of The Northeast Atlantic Benthic Flora In A High Co2 World, Juliet Brodie, Christopher J. Williamson, Dan A. Smale, Nicholas A. Kamenos, Nova Mieszkowska, Rui Santos, Michael Cunliffe, Michael Steinke, Christopher Yesson, Kathryn M. Anderson, Valentina Asnaghi, Colin Brownlee, Heidi L. Burdett, Michael T. Burrows, Sinead Collins, Penelope J.C. Donohue, Ben Harvey, Andrew Foggo, Fanny Noisette, Joana Nunes, Federica Ragazzola, John A. Raven, Daniela N. Schmidt, David Suggett, Mirta Teichberg, Jason M. Hall-Spencer

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Seaweed and seagrass communities in the northeast Atlantic have been profoundly impacted by humans, and the rate of change is accelerating rapidly due to runaway CO2 emissions and mounting pressures on coastlines associated with human population growth and increased consumption of finite resources. Here, we predict how rapid warming and acidification are likely to affect benthic flora and coastal ecosystems of the northeast Atlantic in this century, based on global evidence from the literature as interpreted by the collective knowledge of the authorship. We predict that warming will kill off kelp forests in the south and that ocean acidification will …


How Sailfish Use Their Bills To Capture Schooling Prey, P. Domenici, A. D.M. Wilson, R. H.J.M. Kurvers, S. Marras, J. E. Herbert-Read, J. F. Steffensen, S Krause, P. E. Viblanc, P. Couillaud, J Krause Jun 2014

How Sailfish Use Their Bills To Capture Schooling Prey, P. Domenici, A. D.M. Wilson, R. H.J.M. Kurvers, S. Marras, J. E. Herbert-Read, J. F. Steffensen, S Krause, P. E. Viblanc, P. Couillaud, J Krause

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The istiophorid family of billfishes is characterized by an extended rostrum or ‘bill’. While various functions (e.g. foraging and hydrodynamic benefits) have been proposed for this structure, until now no study has directly investigated the mechanisms by which billfishes use their rostrum to feed on prey. Here, we present the first unequivocal evidence of how the bill is used by Atlantic sailfish ( Istiophorus albicans ) to attack schooling sardines in the open ocean. Using high-speed video-analysis, we show that (i) sailfish manage to insert their bill into sardine schools without eliciting an evasive response and (ii) subsequently use their …


Targeting Molecular Networks For Drug Research, José P. Pinto, Rui S.R. Machado, Joana M. Xavier, Matthias E. Futschik Jun 2014

Targeting Molecular Networks For Drug Research, José P. Pinto, Rui S.R. Machado, Joana M. Xavier, Matthias E. Futschik

School of Biomedical Sciences

No abstract provided.


Identification Of Genes Required For Soil Survival In Burkholderia Thailandensis By Transposon-Directed Insertion Site Sequencing, Ah Bishop, Pa Rachwal Jun 2014

Identification Of Genes Required For Soil Survival In Burkholderia Thailandensis By Transposon-Directed Insertion Site Sequencing, Ah Bishop, Pa Rachwal

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Transposon-directed insertion site sequencing was used to identify genes required by Burkholderia thailandensis to survive in plant/soil microcosms. A total of 1,153 genetic loci fulfilled the criteria as being likely to encode survival characteristics. Of these, 203 (17.6 %) were associated with uptake and transport systems; 463 loci (40.1 %) coded for enzymatic properties, 99 of these (21.4 %) had reduction/oxidation functions; 117 (10.1 %) were gene regulation or sensory loci; 61 (5.3 %) encoded structural proteins found in the cell envelope or with enzymatic activities related to it, distinct from these, 46 (4.0 %) were involved in chemotaxis and …


Response Of Wave-Dominated And Mixed-Energy Barriers To Storms, Gerd Masselink, Heteren S Van Jun 2014

Response Of Wave-Dominated And Mixed-Energy Barriers To Storms, Gerd Masselink, Heteren S Van

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.


Controls On Macrotidal Rip Current Circulation And Hazard, Tim Scott, Gerd Masselink, Martin J. Austin, Paul Russell Jun 2014

Controls On Macrotidal Rip Current Circulation And Hazard, Tim Scott, Gerd Masselink, Martin J. Austin, Paul Russell

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.