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Biodiversity And Ecosystem Functioning: Experimental Tests Using Rockpools As A Model System, John N Griffin Jan 2008

Biodiversity And Ecosystem Functioning: Experimental Tests Using Rockpools As A Model System, John N Griffin

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

How anthropogenic changes to species composition and diversity are likely to affect the properties of the ecosystems of which they are an integral part, and by extension the goods and services humans derive from them, is a key question in ecology. Despite over a decade of vigorous empirical research and theoretical developments, there remain many unknowns. Using intertidal rockpools and laboratory marine mesocosrns, I used a variety of approaches to address several of these relatively poorly studied issues. In particular, the work presented here focused on the relative roles of species composition and richness, as well as the extent to …


Phenotypic Plasticity In Marine Intertidal Gastropods, Ahmed Mohammed Al-Mazrouai Jan 2008

Phenotypic Plasticity In Marine Intertidal Gastropods, Ahmed Mohammed Al-Mazrouai

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Phenotypic plasticity, the differential phenotypic expression of the same genotype in response to different environmental conditions, is a paradigm central of the study of evolution and ecology and is at the core of the "nature versus nurture" debate. Here, the marine gastropod Littorina littorea was used as a model to further our understanding of the potential role of phenotypic plasticity in intertidal systems. In the first study L. littorea was included in an investigation of induced defences across six species of intertidal marine gastropods in the families Littorinidae and Trochidae. Species differed in the magnitude and type of plastic response, …


Proteomics And Ecotoxicoldgy:.Marine Invertebrates And Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, Anne Bjornstad Jan 2008

Proteomics And Ecotoxicoldgy:.Marine Invertebrates And Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, Anne Bjornstad

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

The key problem faced by environmental scientists is to predictand recognize the damaging effects of chemical pollutants on natural biota. The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the potential for proteomics in ecotoxicology and environmental risk assessment (ERA), with the hypothesis that proteomic technologies (i.e. ProteinChip technology in combination with SELDI TOF MS) could be a useftil supplement to existing methods of environmental assessment, by providing a sensitive, non-invasive, rapid multi-endpoint assessment of effects of anthropogenic chemicals on organism in vivo. Three invertebrate species, Mytilus edulis, Hyas araneus and Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis was exposed to natural and anthropogenic chemicals in …


Conscious And Unconscious Processes In Human Desire, J Andrade, J May, Dk Kavanagh Jan 2008

Conscious And Unconscious Processes In Human Desire, J Andrade, J May, Dk Kavanagh

School of Psychology

Elaborated Intrusion theory (Kavanagh, Andrade & May 2005) distinguishes between unconscious, associative processes as the precursors of desire, and controlled processes of cognitive elaboration that lead to conscious sensory images of the target of desire and associated affect. We argue that these mental images play a key role in motivating human behavior. Consciousness is functional in that it allows competing goals to be compared and evaluated. The role of effortful cognitive processes in desire helps to explain the different time courses of craving and physiological withdrawal.


Systems Biology Meets Stress Ecology:: Linking Molecular And Organismal Stress Responses In Daphnia Magna, L-H Heckmann, Rm Sibly, R Connon, Hl Hooper, Th Hutchinson, Sj Maund, Cj Hill, A Bouetard, A Callaghan Jan 2008

Systems Biology Meets Stress Ecology:: Linking Molecular And Organismal Stress Responses In Daphnia Magna, L-H Heckmann, Rm Sibly, R Connon, Hl Hooper, Th Hutchinson, Sj Maund, Cj Hill, A Bouetard, A Callaghan

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.


An Approach To Machine Development Of Musical Ontogeny, Marcelo Gimenes Jan 2008

An Approach To Machine Development Of Musical Ontogeny, Marcelo Gimenes

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This Thesis pursues three main objectives: (i) to use computational modelling to explore how music is perceived, cognitively processed and created by human beings; (ii) to explore interactive musical systems as a method to model and achieve the transmission of musical influence in artificial worlds and between humans and machines; and (iii) to experiment with artificial and alternative developmental musical routes in order to observe the evolution of musical styles. In order to achieve these objectives, this Thesis introduces a new paradigm for the design of computer interactive musical systems called the Ontomemetical Model of Music Evolution - OMME, which …


The Statistics Of Natural Hand Movements, James N. Ingram, Kp Kording, Ian S. Howard, Daniel M. Wolpert Jan 2008

The Statistics Of Natural Hand Movements, James N. Ingram, Kp Kording, Ian S. Howard, Daniel M. Wolpert

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.


Composition And Decomposition In Bimanual Dynamic Learning, Ian S. Howard, James N. Ingram, Daniel M. Wolpert Jan 2008

Composition And Decomposition In Bimanual Dynamic Learning, Ian S. Howard, James N. Ingram, Daniel M. Wolpert

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.


Modeling Motor Pattern Generation In The Development Of Infant Speech Production, Is Howard, P Messum Jan 2008

Modeling Motor Pattern Generation In The Development Of Infant Speech Production, Is Howard, P Messum

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

We previously proposed a non-imitative account of learning to pronounce, implemented computationally using discovery and mirrored interaction with a caregiver. Our model used an infant vocal tract synthesizer and its articulators were driven by a simple motor system. During an initial phase, motor patterns develop that represent potentially useful speech sounds. To increase the realism of this model we now include some of the constraints imposed by speech breathing. We also implement a more sophisticated motor system. Firstly, this can independently control articulator movement over different timescales, which is necessary to effectively control respiration as well as prosody. Secondly, we …


Delta-Like 4 Notch Ligand Regulates Tumor Angiogenesis, Improves Tumor Vascular Function, And Promotes Tumor Growth In Vivo, J-L Li, Rca Sainson, W Shi, R Leek, Et Al Dec 2007

Delta-Like 4 Notch Ligand Regulates Tumor Angiogenesis, Improves Tumor Vascular Function, And Promotes Tumor Growth In Vivo, J-L Li, Rca Sainson, W Shi, R Leek, Et Al

School of Biomedical Sciences

The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a key role in tumor angiogenesis. However, clinical trials targeting the VEGF pathway are often ineffective, suggesting that other factors/pathways are also important in tumor angiogenesis. We have previously shown that the Notch ligand Delta-like 4 (DLL4) is up-regulated in tumor vasculature. Here, we show that DLL4, when expressed in tumor cells, functions as a negative regulator of tumor angiogenesis by reducing the number of blood vessels in all five types of xenografts, but acts as a positive driver for tumor growth in two of them (human glioblastoma and prostate cancer). The growth …


Three-Dimensional Shoaling Of Large-Amplitude Internal Waves, V. Vlasenko, N. Stashchuk Nov 2007

Three-Dimensional Shoaling Of Large-Amplitude Internal Waves, V. Vlasenko, N. Stashchuk

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The three-dimensional (3-D) shoaling of large-amplitude internal waves (LAIW) is studied in the framework of a fully nonlinear nonhydrostatic numerical model. The vertical fluid stratification, parameters of the propagating waves and bottom topography were taken close to those observed in the northern part of the Andaman Sea. It was found that three-dimensional evolution of LAIWs propagating from the deep part of a basin onto the shelf differs from two-dimensional shoaling in many ways largely because of the process of wave refraction developing in the areas of local bottom elevations or depressions. In the 3-D case the wave refraction produces concave …


Impact Of Fish Farm Deposition On Maerl Beds., Jm Hall-Spencer, N White Jun 2007

Impact Of Fish Farm Deposition On Maerl Beds., Jm Hall-Spencer, N White

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.


Festival Publicity Helped Change Fishing Policy., Jm Hall-Spencer Jun 2007

Festival Publicity Helped Change Fishing Policy., Jm Hall-Spencer

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

In the late 1990s, I saw chunks of coral reef being trawled up off the UK at a time when the fishing industry was moving into deeper waters along the European Continental Shelf edge. As a trained marine biologist I was flabbergasted, since the text books said that coral reefs were restricted to warm tropical waters. It turned out that corals were amongst the first life forms discovered during pioneering deep-sea surveys off southwest Ireland in 1869. In fact, at least as many coral species are described from the deep sea as from shallow waters and large, reef-forming corals have …


The Potential Of New Tumor Endothelium-Specific Markers For The Development Of Antivascular Therapy, J-L Li, Al Harris Jun 2007

The Potential Of New Tumor Endothelium-Specific Markers For The Development Of Antivascular Therapy, J-L Li, Al Harris

School of Biomedical Sciences

Angiogenesis is a hallmark of solid tumors, and disruption of tumor vasculature is an active anticancer therapy in some cases. Several proteins expressed on the surface of tumor endothelium have been identified during the last decade. However, due to the expression in both physiological and tumor angiogenesis, only a few targets have been developed for clinical therapeutics. By thorough SAGE analysis of mouse endothelial cells isolated from various normal resting tissues, regenerating liver, and liver-metastasized tumor, Seaman and colleagues in this issue of Cancer Cell have demonstrated organ-specific endothelial markers, physiological angiogenesis endothelial markers, and tumor endothelial markers and revealed …


Focusing On Body Sites: The Role Of Spatial Attention In Action Perception, P Bach, Na Peatfield, Sp Tipper Apr 2007

Focusing On Body Sites: The Role Of Spatial Attention In Action Perception, P Bach, Na Peatfield, Sp Tipper

School of Psychology

Humans use the same representations to code self-produced and observed actions. Neurophysiological evidence for this view comes from the discovery of the so-called mirror neurons in premotor cortex of the macaque monkey. These neurons respond when the monkey performs a particular action but also when it observes the same behavior in another individual. In humans, such direct links between perception and action seem to mediate action priming, where a response is facilitated when a similar action is observed. An issue that has not been fully resolved concerns the role of selective attention in these processes. Action priming appears to be …


Report Of The Working Group On Deep-Water Ecology (Wgdec) , 26-28 February 2007, Jm Hall-Spencer Feb 2007

Report Of The Working Group On Deep-Water Ecology (Wgdec) , 26-28 February 2007, Jm Hall-Spencer

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.


Arctic Coral Reefs, T Kerby, Jm Hall-Spencer Feb 2007

Arctic Coral Reefs, T Kerby, Jm Hall-Spencer

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Recent expeditions to the cold, northern waters of the Arctic have revealed giant deep-sea coral reefs. In this article, Tina Kerby and Jason Hall-Spencer describe the latest findings from a project to study these surprising environments.


Implicit Action Encoding Influences Personal-Trait Judgments, P Bach, Sp Tipper Feb 2007

Implicit Action Encoding Influences Personal-Trait Judgments, P Bach, Sp Tipper

School of Psychology

When an observed action (e.g., kicking) is compatible to a to be produced action (e.g., a foot-key response as compared to a finger-key response), then the self-produced action is more fluent, that is, it is more accurate and faster. A series of experiments explore the notion that vision-action compatibility effects can influence personal-trait judgments. It is demonstrated that when an observed individual carries out an action that is compatible with the participants' response, (1) this individual is identified more fluently, and (2) the observed individual's personality is attributed with the properties of the observed action. For example, if it is …


A Case Study In Using Electronic Presentation Media To Teach Mathematics, Brian Watson Feb 2007

A Case Study In Using Electronic Presentation Media To Teach Mathematics, Brian Watson

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Over the past decade the United Kingdom (UK) Government has invested substantially in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in all sectors of education. Investment has been in infrastructure, staff development and educational software. At the same time there has been concern about the achievements in mathematics of school leavers and about the decline in numbers of students choosing to study mathematics in Higher Education. Through its Widening Participation initiative, (UK) Government intends to increase the number of students entering Higher Education. An account is given of a project to make appropriate use of computer-based projection materials in the delivery of …


Interleukin-10 Inhibits Osteoclastogenesis By Reducing Nfatc1 Expression And Preventing Its Translocation To The Nucleus., Ke Evans, Sw Fox Jan 2007

Interleukin-10 Inhibits Osteoclastogenesis By Reducing Nfatc1 Expression And Preventing Its Translocation To The Nucleus., Ke Evans, Sw Fox

School of Biomedical Sciences

BACKGROUND: IL-10 has a potent inhibitory effect on osteoclastogenesis. In vitro and in vivo studies confirm the importance of this cytokine in bone metabolism, for instance IL-10-deficient mice develop the hallmarks of osteoporosis. Although it is known that IL-10 directly inhibits osteoclastogenesis at an early stage, preventing differentiation of osteoclast progenitors to preosteoclasts, the precise mechanism of its action is not yet clear. Several major pathways regulate osteoclastogenesis, with key signalling genes such as p38, TRAF6, NF-kappaB and NFATc1 well established as playing vital roles. We have looked at gene expression in eleven of these genes using real-time quantitative PCR …


A Social Dimension For Digital Architectural Practice, Chris Speed Jan 2007

A Social Dimension For Digital Architectural Practice, Chris Speed

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis proceeds from an analysis of practice and critical commentary to claim that the opportunities presented to some architectural practices by the advent of ubiquitous digital technology have not been properly exploited. The missed opportunities, it claims, can be attributed largely to the retention of a model of time and spaces as discrete design parameters, which is inappropriate in the context of the widening awareness of social interconnectedness that digital technology has also facilitated. As a remedy, the thesis shows that some social considerations essential to good architecture - which could have been more fully integrated in practice and …


The Ecology And Genetics Of Cirsium Dissectum (L.) Hill In The British Isles And Implications For Its Conservation, Natasha De Vere Jan 2007

The Ecology And Genetics Of Cirsium Dissectum (L.) Hill In The British Isles And Implications For Its Conservation, Natasha De Vere

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

The aim of this study was to research the ecology and genetics of Cirsium dissectum and to discuss the implications of the results for its conservation. The ecology of C. dissectum was described through a review of the literature. Site characteristics, plant communities and reproductive biology were investigated by examining 22 populations throughout the British Isles. Microsatellite genetic markers were used to investigate levels of genetic diversity within and between these populations. Within populations, relationships between genetic diversity, population size, fitness and habitat quality (concentrating on soil nutrients and vegetation structure) were explored using multiple regression and structural equation modelling. …


Anti-Predator Behaviour In The Freshwater Gastropod Lymnaea Stagnalis, Sarah Joanne Dalesman Jan 2007

Anti-Predator Behaviour In The Freshwater Gastropod Lymnaea Stagnalis, Sarah Joanne Dalesman

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

The freshwater gastropod Lymnaea stagnalis was used as a model organism to investigate the mechanisms employed by prey species to fine-tune anti-predator behaviour to match their environment. Lymnaea stagnalis was found to exhibit both genetic adaptation of innate responses and also induced responses to predator cues. Snails were also capable of responding to predation cues via associative learning dependent on recent experience. Constitutive responses were found to differ between populations depending on the predator regime that the population experienced in the wild. Artificial selection produced in only two generations a difference in the magnitude of response between high and low …


Ambiguous Women: Debates Within American Evangelical Feminism, A Syska Jan 2007

Ambiguous Women: Debates Within American Evangelical Feminism, A Syska

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

This article is an analysis of major debates within American evangelical feminism since its emergence in early 1970s. It examines ways in which American evangelical feminists negotiate their identity in the daily struggle between the mundane and the sacred, home setting and church practice, and their private and public lives. Through presentation of personal stories and lived experiences it argues that evangelical feminists' ambiguity is a significant and powerful force that not only forges distinctive self-awareness among evangelical feminists, but also shapes diverse understandings of evangelical feminism and shifts the boundaries of both evangelicalism and feminism in America.


Soil Fertility And Productivity Relationships In Rice Production System, Bangladesh, S Rahman, Rj Parkinson Jan 2007

Soil Fertility And Productivity Relationships In Rice Production System, Bangladesh, S Rahman, Rj Parkinson

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper presents an econometric analysis of the influence of soil fertility status on productivity and resource use in rice production utilizing survey data from 21 villages in three agro-ecological regions of Bangladesh. Detailed crop husbandry input-output data were collected from 380 paddy rice (Oryza sativa) farmers. Data collected included fertilizer, pesticide, labour, animal power services, irrigation, farm capital assets and rice yield. The soil fertility status in each region was determined by analysis of soil organic carbon, available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium concentration. Analysis was based on a profit function, where the selected soil fertility parameters were incorporated as …


The Evolution And Palaeobiogeography Of Mesozoic Planktonic Foraminifera, Wendy Hudson Jan 2007

The Evolution And Palaeobiogeography Of Mesozoic Planktonic Foraminifera, Wendy Hudson

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

In the 1960s Oberhauser and Fuchs (palaeontologists working at the Geologische Bundesanstalt in Vienna) described a range of new taxa from the Triassic of Austria that were thought to be the earliest planktonic foraminifera. The first reactions of the palaeontological community were negative but in the subsequent forty years our knowledge of Jurassic planktonic foraminifera has expanded considerably. A thorough re-evaluation of the Oberhauser and Fuchs collections in Vienna has shown that these species are probably not planktonic and that the first planktonic taxa appeared in the Toarcian. This origination in the centre of Western Tethys was followed by a …


Avoiding Collapse: Resilience And Sustainable Development In Vulnerable Small Islands, Matthew Paul Bunce Jan 2007

Avoiding Collapse: Resilience And Sustainable Development In Vulnerable Small Islands, Matthew Paul Bunce

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

Small islands dependent on reef fisheries, farming and tourism are vulnerable to rising human and natural pressures and may target "sustainable" development. Marine Protected Areas (MPA) have a proven ability to meet ecological goals, such as restoring fisheries and preserving ecosystem function across scales. However, there is a comparative lack of scientific baseline data and social research which may help local MPA to overcome failures in achieving mixed conservation and development goals in populated coastal areas facing intense pressure. This fieldwork-based case study researched in French and Creole languages in the sub-tropical, mid-Oceanic island of Rodrigues (Mauritius, Indian Ocean) addresses …


Productivity Management Of The Cacao Agro-Food System In Tabasco (Mexico): A Fitness Approach, Cesar Jesus Vazquez Navarrete Jan 2007

Productivity Management Of The Cacao Agro-Food System In Tabasco (Mexico): A Fitness Approach, Cesar Jesus Vazquez Navarrete

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

The farming industry and the agro-food system as a whole are now required to adapt to a challenging and more competitive environment. How the food industry can fit itself into such environment is the main question that is addressed in this study. The fitness approach, an exploratory framework, is applied in order to study the Cacao Agro-food System (CAPS) in Tabasco. Mexico. The final sample consisted of 356 farmers, 37 curing plants, 6 wholesaling firms, and 7 chocolate firms. An anatomical model using correspondence analysis was adopted to understand the main features of every industry in the CAPS. The Pitness …


The Photodegradation Of Diazepam And Its Human Metabolites In Water, Charles Edward West Jan 2007

The Photodegradation Of Diazepam And Its Human Metabolites In Water, Charles Edward West

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

In recent years, the environmental occurrence, fate and effects of pharmaceuticals or pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs) and their metabolites have received increased attention. PhACs have been detected in wastewater, river water, marine waters and even sewage sludge and soil. Since PhACs are developed with the intention of stimulating or inhibiting physiological responses, these findings have prompted concern over their environmental fate and potential adverse effects on nontarget ecological species. The major source of discharge of PhACs to the environment is through sewage treatment works (STWs) effluents and sludges. Although used in quantities similar to many agrochemicals and other organic micropollutants, …


The Impacts Of Atmospherically Derived Metals On Coastal Marine Systems, Mohammed Orif Jan 2007

The Impacts Of Atmospherically Derived Metals On Coastal Marine Systems, Mohammed Orif

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

The total concentrations of trace metals (Al, Fe, Mn, Co, Na, Cu, Zn, Mo, Ni, V, Cd, Pb) have been determined in the marine aerosol at two contrasting coastal sites, Plymouth UK, (December 2001 to April 2003) and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (August 2002-January 2004). Trace metal concentrations in the Plymouth urban aerosol were lower (2-13 times) than those observed at other comparative UK. urban locations and generally comparable with those observed at European coastal non-urban locations. Statistically significant differences were found in aerosol metal concentrations associated with populations of contrasting air mass sources (i.e. Atlantic and UK/European), being greatest in …