Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Marine Biotoxins Using Analytical Techniques Based On Mass Spectrometry, Mónica Fernández Amandi

Theses

The impact of phycotoxins on human and animal health is of important concern for worldwide authorities and the scientific community. Domoic acid (DA) is a neurotoxin produced by phytoplankton {Pseudonitzchia spp.). It enters the food chain through the consumption of shellfish that feed on toxic diatoms. DA has been responsible for several outbreaks affecting humans and animals all around the world. Yessotoxin (YTX) is produced by dinoflagellate species {Protoceratiuni reticulatum) which are globally distributed. Its toxicity is low when ingested orally. However, the co-extraction of YTX with diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) toxins, derives false positives when the mouse bioassay is …

Elucidation Of The Mass Spectral Fragmentation Pathways Of Cyclic Hepatopeptides Microcystins, Paloma Muniz Ortea

Theses

The most frequently found cyanobacterial toxins in blooms from fresh and brackish waters are the cyclic peptide microcystins (MCs) and nodularin family. These toxins cause fatal poisonings of agricultural livestock, wild animals, birds and fish on a worldwide basis. The involvement of these toxins in human health problems has also been inferred in several countries and their presence in drinking water sources is of interest to the drinking water industry.

One of the biggest problems in the analysis of MCs is the lack of commercially available standards to be used for the identification and characterisation of these cyanobacterial toxins. One …

Family Friendly / Work Life Balance Policies: Perspectives Of Irish Employers And Employees, Caroline Williams

Theses

This study assesses the emergence of family friendly / work life balance arrangements within Irish organisations in view of changing conditions on the labour market, particularly with the increased participation of women. It incorporates the experiences, opinions and commentaries of both Human Resource representatives responsible for the implementation of such practices, and employees availing of them in a broad spectrum of public and private sector organisations.

This research addresses the perceived explicit and implicit barriers, such as organisational size, location and culture which challenge employers and employees in terms of alternative working arrangements. It illustrates the significance of introducing and …

Multispectral Camera Control And High Speed Image Transfer Using Lossless Hardware Compression, Padraig Ryan

Theses

This work provides extensions of a standard D-Cam/Firewire digital camera platform for use within a multispectral imaging setting and includes real-time lossless image compression targeted at the re-configurable environment of an FPGA. The control and image acquisition structures specific to multispectral systems are detailed with respect to an embedded firmware solution, complementary host PC software driver routines, and camera hardware control infrastructures. The augmentation of the standards based implementation is discussed without compromising compliance with underlying specifications. The mandate for image data acquisition includes glue logic to efficiently transmit data via a high-speed communications pipe, IEEE - 1394 in this …

An Investigation Into The Role Of Social Marketing In Preventing Adolescent Drinking., Cian Long

Theses

In recent years, there has been increased concern about the level of alcohol abuse by Irish teenagers. Countless studies have shown that underage drinking is now becoming an epidemic. Up to 100 million young people around the globe are alcohol dependent and another 400 million drink to excess. Research has shown that early onset of alcohol use can lead to alcohol dependency, violence, absenteeism, crime and subsequent health problems. It is estimated that alcohol related problems cost the Irish economy €2.65 billion in 2003. Unfortunately, this alcohol problem is not going to vanish or disappear. Alcohol has become Ireland’s number …

A Blueprint For Physical Activity Promotion In A Small Urban Town (Mallow, Co. Cork), Elaine Mary Dennehy

Theses

This research project aims to establish current levels of participation in physical activity amongst the adult population of the Mallow Urban District Council (UDC) area. Using an adaptation of The Scottish Physical Activity Questionnaire (SPAQ) (Lowther et al, 1999) used by the Health Education Bureau for Scotland (HEBS) an attempt will be made to establish the respondents’ readiness for change in relation to physical activity participation. This research methodology is new to Ireland but has been used successfully by the HEBS, (Lowther et al, 1999).

The objectives of this work are to:

1. Establish current levels of participation in physical …

Employee Retention And Customer Relationships In Services Industry, Aileen O'Connell

Theses

The business environment of the 1990s has seen a shift in firms’ emphasis away from recruiting new customers, towards nurturing and retaining those that they currently have (Palmer, 1996). The marketing emphasis has moved from customer acquisition to customer retention. Reicheld, (1996a) has identified a link between customer and employee retention, but this link has not been extrapolated by many researchers. For the purpose of this study, the researcher proposes to examine this link.

A large number of people who work for organisations are no longer what would be termed “traditional” employees of those organisations, i.e. employees for life. These …

An Investigation Into The Role Of Social Marketing In Preventing Adolescent Drinking., Cian Long

Theses

In recent years, there has been increased concern about the level of alcohol abuse by Irish teenagers. Countless studies have shown that underage drinking is now becoming an epidemic. Up to 100 million young people around the globe are alcohol dependent and another 400 million drink to excess. Research has shown that early onset of alcohol use can lead to alcohol dependency, violence, absenteeism, crime and subsequent health problems. It is estimated that alcohol related problems cost the Irish economy €2.65 billion in 2003. Unfortunately, this alcohol problem is not going to vanish or disappear. Alcohol has become Ireland’s number …

"An Investigation Into The Potential Of Immobilized Nitrifies In Wastewater Treatment", Ahmed S. Embaby

Theses

Removal of ammonia from wastewater is one of the problematic issues in wastewater treatment because nitrifies are very slow growing and can be washed out from activated sludge processes. There is a need to use higher advanced techniques to retain biomass. Among these techniques is cell immobilization in appropriate reactor environments. Cell immobilization technology can be approached by various methods, including cell entrapment or biofilms. However, these immobilization techniques are often accompanied by challenges in terms of biomass activity preservation and recovery following the immobilization treatment, reduction of nutrients mass transfer rates, adequate performance under shock situations and preservation of …

Formulation And Implementation Of Environmental Strategies In Printing Firms: A Comparison Between The U.S. And Germany, Diana B. Mross

Theses

This thesis will guide the reader through the investigation process of a research area previously ignored in the research literature: the formulation and implementation of environmental strategies in printing companies. It will address strategies in printing firms, primarily from a cultural and structural point of view, which are formulated and implemented to help protect the environment and to save resources. The investigation will include a review of previous literature regarding strategy, environmental management and technology, and health and safety management. It will introduce the research questions, the methodology, and the analysis of research findings.

Through the exploratory case study method, …

Experimental And Theoretical Study Of A Uv Disinfection System For Water Treatment, Wei Yang

Theses

An innovative energy saving ultraviolet disinfection reactor has been developed and tested. The technical approach taken is to establish a relationship between the power consumption and the design features of a UV disinfection system, and then determine these design features by minimizing the power consumption function.

The circular-array type (CAT) UV reactor design consists of four short straight UV bulbs located circumferentially outside a quartz tube. A 4 inches diameter prototype was tested with a water flow rate of 1 1 GPM. Experimental results showed that the CAT UV reactor requires 30% less power consumption (9.6W) compared with a commercial …

Implementation Of Urban Corridors Will Ease Environmental Impacts Between Residential And Industrial Zones, Tameria M. Warren

Theses

The objective of this work was to investigate the environmental conditions or patterns that impact cities and urban landscapes and to identify the reasonable buffers or corridors that can ease these impacts, primarily between industrial and residential areas. The hypothesis is that urban cities do face environmental impacts from various sources, a primary source being industrial practices, and that the implementation of corridors or buffers will minimize these impacts and possibly improve the environmental and socioeconomic conditions of the surrounding residential areas and the cities as a whole. The research included defining the structure of urban areas, investigating environmental impacts …

Effects Of Pace And Stress On Upper-Extremity Biomechanical Responses In Sign Language Interpreters, Jin Qin

Theses

Repetitive motion injuries (RMIs) are disorders of the soft tissues due to repeated exertion and excessive movement of the body. Sign language interpreters who have to move their fingers, hands, wrists and arms repeatedly are susceptible to RMIs. One of the major research voids in the studies of RMIs in sign language interpreters is the lack of quantification of biomechanical exposures. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of pace and psychosocial stress of sign language interpreting on the biomechanical responses in a quantitative manner and compare the results with the industrial high risk benchmarks.

Twelve professional …

Designing Medical Legal Exhibits: A Guide To Creating Successful Presentations, Sara M. Krause

Theses

This thesis provides design instruction for medical illustrators, including ideas and facts about design, literacy, attention, retention, and recall. It is designed to help illustrators create persuasive printed exhibits to serve as demonstrative evidence in court cases.

Active Barrier Packaging: Extending The Product Life Of Orange Juice Packaged In Gable Top Cartons, Ann Marie Kenback Chuprevich

Theses

Providing a package that can actively participate in prolonging the product shelf life of orange juice adds value, both financially and nutritionally, to the product and to the package. The code date and shelf life of orange juice is in part determined by the ability of the product to maintain the level of vitamin C as stated on the nutritional label. Vitamin C deteriorates in the presence of oxygen; therefore, removal of oxygen from the package will decelerate the process of oxidation thereby diminishing the loss of vitamin C and prolonging the quality of the orange juice. The refrigerated shelf …

Neurodevelopmental Models Of The Heterogeneous Syndrome Of Schizophrenia, Gwen Decelles

Theses

Not included.

Reforming Higher Education In Saudi Arabia: The Use Of Telecommunications Technology, Abdullah Altowjry

Theses

Internet technology has become a powerful tool since its advent. Online learning is a byproduct of Internet usage and is instrumental in higher education. In the United States, the use of online learning, also known as distance learning, is widespread. It is used in almost all educational institutions. Even third world countries, which are traditionally lagging behind in any educational or sociological enterprise, are now attempting to catch up with distance learning education. Some educational institutions in the Middle East, for example, have been using distance learning in place of traditional classroom instruction. In Saudi Arabia, there is a great …

The Implementation Of Homeland Security Efforts In Response Organizations: Monroe County, New York Case Study, Heather M. Savage

Theses

The events from 9/11 have prompted many changes in American society. Perhaps the biggest change can be seen in the Emergency Response field. The initial response to the events of 9/11 was a huge push at readying responders for future attacks. However, it can now be seen throughout the response community that the initial emphasis on terrorism readiness has turned into complacency and that the goal of fully preparing each responder has not yet been attained. There are many factors preventing the physical and mental preparation of each Emergency Responder and these factors range from lack of funding to lack …

Realm Of Possibilities: The Portrayal Of Women In Futuristic Science Fiction Movies, Aru Basu

Theses

This study examines the portrayal of women in 50 science-fiction films produced in the U.S. The method was content analysis and the unit of analysis was the film scene. Presentations of women were analyzed by examining demographic variables and behavioral traits. For a further insight, comparisons have been made between older women (40 years and above) and younger women (below 40 years) and between "human" women and "other" women. This study reveals that there are few differences with previous studies undertaken on portrayal of women. Overall, women in the sciencefiction future have not been portrayed in a significantly different way …

Evaluation Of Ecotourism In Armenia, Narine Yeghoyan

Theses

Over the last decades ecological tourism has become very popular all around the world. Ecotourism has emerged as a development tool, which aims to protect the natural area and cultural diversity by attracting the ecotourists and generating benefits for the local community without harming nature. Good interpretation services, cultural sensitivity and involvement with local community are three characteristics that differentiate ecotourism from other types of tourism. Ecotourism can bring many benefits, but if it is not organized properly, it can have very serious environmental consequences. Therefore evaluation of ecotourism product in a destination is important. It can help policy makers …

Automated Extraction Of Disease-Gene Relationships From Medline, Jennifer R. Paine

Theses

The increasing amount of scientific information available to researchers in the form of biomedical literature is beginning to bring about a need for the development of tools to extract information automatically from these sources. One segment of information of particular interest to researchers is the linkage information between genes and diseases. These linkages can help researchers interpret large-scale genomics studies as well as make logical connections between gene expression levels and certain phenotypes. To make the finding and collecting of this information practical, automated methods of information extraction are required. In this paper, I propose a method for the automated …

The Relationship Between Young Women's Large And Small Friendship Networks, Self-Reported Preferences And The Influence Of Popular Fashion Magazine Readership, Meghann E. Connor

Theses

Friendship networks impact self-perceived body images, appearance, popularity, attractiveness, style, pressure, and self-consciousness. This study examines both large and small friendship networks and young women's popular fashion magazine readership. Eighty-seven senior high school young women completed a 22-question survey to determine placement in large or small networks. The survey was used to determine questions later discussed in the report. Significant differences were found between females in large and small networks with regard to attractiveness and style after reading fashion magazines. No other variables were found to be significant.

Asthma Brochure And Logo For Rochester General Hospital's Camp Bronchopower And Pediatric Associates, Christine Marie Curtiss

Theses

This thesis describes the creation of a lay public educational brochure for Rochester General Hospital, showing asthmatic children how to use a spacer device with a metered dose inhaler. The thesis was created using the author's original artwork and was translated and adapted for a Spanish version. The second part of the thesis describes the revision of the logo for Camp Bronchopower, a children's asthma camp run by Rochester General Hospital.

Belief In A Just World, School Stress And Academic Success, Elizabeth A. Hepworth

Theses

Belief in a just world, a construct first introduced by Lerner (1978), has been the topic of psychological research for the past forty years (Lerner, 1965; Rubin & Peplau, 1973; Tomaka & Blascovich, 1994; Dalbert, 1999; Hafer, 2000; Furnham, 2003). Much of the research conducted on the belief in a just world focused on its cognitive use as a protective mechanism. For example, Belief in a Just World (BJW) has been positively correlated with helping behavior (Beirhoff, 2002), commitment to long range goals (Hafer, 2000), positive well-being (Dalbert, 2000), and negatively associated with stress (Takoma & Blascovich, 1994). In the …

0.18?M High Performance Cmos Process Optimization, Zeki Gurcan

Theses

Complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) is the most widely used discrete structure in the semiconductor sector. Low static power consumption, full-rail high/low voltage transfer characteristics as well as its ease of scaling creates the perfect combination for the high performance integrated circuits (IC). Today’s challenging semiconductor industry profile brings the deadlines earlier than expected as a result of the shorter time-to- market plans as well as limited lifetime on sophisticated ICs. Process optimization for manufacturability is one of the most challenging issues in the semiconductor industry since the adoption of the sub-micron CMOS technology. Process technologies often times gets released …

Environmental Application Of Nanoparticles Copper Oxide, Moza Nasser Ai-Khaili

Theses

The work presented in this thesis involves a series of studies carried out toward the two main goals of this project. The first goal is to prepare high surface area pure copper (II) oxide and composites containing copper (II) oxide. The second goal is to investigate the catalytic reactivity of these materials toward the adsorption and decomposition of the environmentally hazardous chlorinated hydrocarbon compounds (CHC).

The first part of this work involves several studies to prepare ultra [me powder of pure copper oxide. Forced precipitation method has been employed starting with copper (II) chloride or copper (II) nitrate Nona hydrate …

Identification Of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli In The Uae, Khawla Hamad Mohd Al-Areef Al-Dhaheri

Theses

Identification of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli in the UAE

By

Khawla Hamad Mohd Al-Areef Al-Dhaheri

Abstract

Various patho-groups of Escherichia coli strains are important causes of diarrheal diseases worldwide. Among these strains Shiga toxin producing isolates are particularly important. They are carried by various animals and upon infection, in humans, they may cause serious bloody diarrhea, and in some cases even life threatening sequels as hemolytic uremic syndrome. However, these infections are often under-diagnosed due to the fact that pathogenic strains do not differ from their nonpathogenic counterparts in characters investigated by standard microbiological techniques. Consequently, they can only be …

Effect Of Some Medicinal Plants In U.A.E. On Glucose Homeostasis In Rats, Fatma Khadem Al-Ghaithi

Theses

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common endocrine diseases in the world that affects almost 6% of the world population. The treatment of diabetes mellitus takes three main forms. First, diet and exercise. Secondly, insulin therapy, and thirdly, using hypoglycaemic agents (suiphonylureas and biguanides). Many of these agents are not very effective in lowering glucose level in diabetic patients and are either too expensive or have undesirable side effects and contraindications. As a result of this, the search for effective drugs for the treatment of diabetes mellitus continues.

Before the introduction of insulin in 1922, the treatment of diabetes …

The Establishment, Management And Evaluation Of The Conservation Reserve System In The Rangelands Of Western Australia, Anthony Brandis

Theses

The rangelands of Western Australia cover about 85% of the State and include the sub-tropical savanna of the Kimberley, the semi arid and arid spinifex, the southern mulga shrublands and the extensive chenopod plains of the Nullarbor. About 40% of the rangelands are managed for the production of meat and wool under a pastoral lease system. A large range of ecosystems occurs within these pastoral leases where, after a relatively short period of time, many changes to native flora and fauna populations have occurred. Biological diversity in the rangelands is declining most noticeably with the extinction, or reduction in the …

The Evidence For A Nascent Biotechnology Cluster In Cork, John W. Hobbs

Theses

Over the past 30 years, encouraged by Ireland’s low rate of corporation tax (currently 12.5 %), and active promotion of FDI by the IDA, foreign owned pharmaceutical plants have set up and multiplied in the Cork area. To Ireland’s advantages of a low tax rate, an English speaking population, a pro-business environment and membership of EU, Cork offered the added attractions of a deepwater port and large natural harbour, good freight connections, an international airport, an educated workforce and excellent sporting and leisure facilities for sailing, golf, etc. (Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson and Schering Plough have …