Digital Commons Network^™

Hiding Behind The Law? A Critique Of The Law And Practice Under The Adoption And Children Act 2002, Lisamarie Deblasio

The Plymouth Law and Criminal Justice Review

This article presents a critical analysis of adoption law in Britain. In particular, it focuses on provisions of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (ACA), and the subsequent interpretation by the Family Courts, which appear to drastically compromise the rights of natural parents. Only in the last three decades has changed perception of family structure altered the theory of adoption. This is illustrated by way of adoption now being a service of permanency for children in the care of local authorities, which has developed to replace the traditional relinquishment of new born babies of previous decades. This historic adoption method …

A Multi-Proxy Study Of The Palaeocene - Eocene Thermal Maximum In Northern Spain, Hayley Manners

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

At the boundary between the Paleocene and Eocene epochs (ca. 56 Ma) a significant global warming event, termed the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), occurred. Records of this event are characterised by a negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) which has been associated with the release of thousands of petagrams of isotopically light carbon into the ocean-atmosphere system, initiating changes in the carbon cycle, the climate system, ocean chemistry and the marine and continental ecosystems. The amount of isotopically light carbon that was required to cause the event, its source and the rapidity of its release are, however, are still debated. This …

Reconstruction Of Recent And Palaeo Sea Ice Conditions In The Barents Sea, Alba Navarro-Rodríguez

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

IP25 is a highly branched isoprenoid alkene derived from certain Arctic sea ice diatoms that, when detected in marine sediments, has been used as a proxy for past Arctic sea ice over the last decade. In the current study, the structure of this biomarker was determined following large-scale extraction from sediment material collected from the Canadian Arctic. After purification, the structure of IP25 was confirmed by NMR spectroscopy as being the same as that of a laboratory standard. The purified IP25 was subsequently used to obtain a quantitative (GC-MS) instrumental response factor that could be used to improve the future …

Effectiveness Of A Closed System Device In Reducing Occupational Exposure And Environmental Concentrations Of Anticancer Drugs, Nitin Vyas

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

Owing to their non-selective nature, anti-cancer drugs affect both cancerous and non-cancerous cells and present a major health risk to healthcare staff working with them. This project was conducted at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, to investigate the extent of contamination with anti-cancer drugs on work surfaces and the environmental emissions of these drugs. In the Isolator study, surface contamination arising from the preparation of five anticancer drug infusions (epirubicin, fluorouracil, cisplatin, oxaliplatin and carboplatin) in a pharmaceutical isolator and external surfaces of infusion bags and syringes using a conventional syringe and needle technique was investigated and compared with that obtained using …

Application Of Polychlorinated Biphenyl Signatures For Environmental Fingerprinting, David Peter Megson

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are a group of 209 ‘man-made’ chlorinated organic compounds that were widely used in the 20th century for a variety of industrial uses. PCBs were first commercially produced in the 1929 and were manufactured until the 1980s when their use was phased out due to environmental and human health risks. However, due to their widespread use and persistence they are ubiquitous in the environment and remain a contaminant of concern. The structural properties that determine the persistence of PCBs in humans were therefore elucidated by statistical analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey …

The Biogeochemistry Of Iron, Zinc And Cobalt In The Atlantic Ocean: The Atlantic Meridional Transect And Uk Geotraces Sections, Neil Wyatt

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

Between 40 % and 50 % of the Earth’s primary production occurs in marine environments, primarily by phytoplankton. The trace metal micronutrients iron, zinc and cobalt are known to exert a significant biological control on phytoplankton productivity by serving as essential active centres in enzymatic processes such as inorganic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus acquisition. The distributions and biogeochemistries of iron, zinc and cobalt therefore, have the potential to impact upon the global carbon cycle and hence climate. This research involves investigations into the biogeochemical cycling of iron, zinc and cobalt in the Atlantic Ocean. Iron measurements were conducted during October …

Post Eruption Inflation Of The East Pacific Rise At 9°50′ N, Scott L. Nooner, Spahr C. Webb, W. Roger Buck, Marie-Helene Cormier

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

In June 2008, we installed a geodetic network at 9°50′ N on the East Pacific Rise to track the long‐term movement of magma following the 2005/6 eruption. This network consists of 10 concrete benchmarks stretching from the ridge to 9 km off‐axis. During three campaign‐style surveys, measurements of vertical seafloor motions were made at each of these benchmarks by precisely recording ambient seawater pressure as a proxy for seafloor depth with a mobile pressure recorder (MPR). The MPR was deployed using the manned submersible Alvin in 2008 and 2009 and the remotely operated vehicle Jason in 2011. The MPR observations …

Long-Term Variability Of Sea Surface Temperature In Taiwan Strait, Igor M. Belkin, Ming-An Lee

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Long-term variability of sea surface temperature (SST) in the Taiwan Strait was studied from the U.K. Met Office Hadley Centre climatological data set HadISST1. In 1957–2011, three epochs were identified. The first epoch of cooling SST lasted through 1976. The regime shift of 1976–1977 led to an extremely rapid warming of 2.1 °C in 22 years. Another regime shift occurred in 1998–1999, resulting in a 1.0 °C cooling by 2011. The cross-frontal gradient between the China Coastal Current and offshore Taiwan Strait waters has abruptly decreased in 1992 and remained low through 2011. The long-term warming of SST increased towards …

Determination Of In Situ Dissolved Inorganic Carbon Concentration And Alkalinity For Marine Sedimentary Porewater, Justine Sauvage, Arthur J. Spivack, Richard W. Murray, Steven D'Hondt

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentration and total alkalinity in marine sediment vary with biological activity, mineral diagenesis and past bottom ocean water composition. Reliable interpretation of this data is often compromised due to precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) during sediment recovery, processing and sample storage.

Here we present and test a method that corrects for this precipitation and consequently allows quantification of in situ carbonate system chemistry. Our method relies on the over-determination of the dissolved carbonate system by (i) measuring DIC, alkalinity and calcium, and (ii) explicitly assuming CaCO₃ saturation in the sediment. We experimentally tested …

Targeted Search For Actinomycetes From Nearshore And Deep-Sea Marine Sediments, Alejandra Prieto-Davó, Luis J. Villarreal-Gómez, Stephanie Forschner-Dancause, Alan T. Bull, James E.M. Stach, David C. Smith, David C. Rowley, Paul R. Jensen

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Sediment samples collected off the coast of San Diego were analyzed for actinomycete diversity using culture-independent techniques. Eight new operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in the Streptomycetaceae were identified as well as new diversity within previously cultured marine OTUs. Sequences belonging to the marine actinomycete genus Salinispora were also detected, despite the fact that this genus has only been reported from more tropical environments. Independent analyses of marine sediments from the Canary Basin (3814 m) and the South Pacific Gyre (5126 and 5699 m) also revealed Salinispora sequences providing further support for the occurrence of this genus in deep-sea sediments. Efforts …

Detection Of Dominant Algal Blooms By Remote Sensing, Chuanmin Hu, Shubha Sathyendranath, Jamie D. Shutler, Christopher W. Brown, Tim S. Moore, Susanne E. Craig, Inia Soto, Ajit Subramaniam

Marine Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Eof-Based Algorithm To Estimate Chlorophyll A Concentrations In Taihu Lake From Modis Land-Band Measurements: Implications For Near Real-Time Applications And Forecasting Models, Lin Qi, Chuanmin Hu, Hongtao Duan, Brian B. Barnes, Ronghua Ma

Marine Science Faculty Publications

For near real-time water applications, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometers (MODIS) on Terra and Aqua are currently the only satellite instruments that can provide well-calibrated top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance data over the global aquatic environments. However, TOA radiance data in the MODIS ocean bands over turbid atmosphere in east China often saturate, leaving only four land bands to use. In this study, an approach based on Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis has been developed and validated to estimate chlorophyll a concentrations (Chla, μg/L) in surface waters of Taihu Lake, the third largest freshwater lake in China. The EOF approach analyzed the …

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Development Of A Nigerian Fermented Maize Food “Akamu” As A Functional Food, Patience Chisa Obinna-Echem

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Akamu is a lactic acid bacteria fermented cereal-based food that complements infant diets in most African countries. Uncontrolled fermentation increases the variability in quality and safety of akamu. This study was aimed at the controlled fermentation of akamu with selected lactic acid bacteria (LAB), investigation of the probiotic potential of the LAB and the effect of variation in production method on the product quality and sensory properties. PCR-DGGE analysis of traditional akamu samples revealed LAB community dominated by Lactobacillus fermentum, L. plantarum, L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and L. helveticus. Isolated yeasts were Candida tropicalis, C. albicans, Clavispora lusitaniae and Saccharomyces …

Source Tracking Of Faecal Indicator Bacteria Of Human Pathogens In Bathing Waters; An Evaluation And Development, Khwam Reissan Hussein

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Bacterial water pollution is a significant problem because it is associated with reduction in the ‘quality’ of water systems with a potential impact on human health. Faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) are usually used to monitor the quality of water, and to indicate the presence of pathogens in water bodies. However, enumeration alone does not enable identification of the precise origin of these pathogens. This study aimed to monitor the quality of bathing water and associated fresh water in and out of the ‘bathing season’ in the UK, and to evaluate the use of microbial source tracking (MST) such as the …

Quality And Shelf Life Of Pita And Tandoori Breads Supplemented With Three Novel Functional Ingredients, Yaseen Galali

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Abstract: The interest for functional foods rich in dietary fibre (DF) and low in glycaemic response (GR) is steadily increasing. This is because DF could reduce GR of food products and protect and restrict diet-associated diseases which have become common in society. But DF rich products are not always high in quality and palatability. Therefore, more fibre-rich functional products need to be designed and developed with good quality, palatability and longer shelf life. A response surface methodology (RSM) was used to develop both pita and Tandoori breads rich in DF with good quality, palatability and longer shelf life. So, a …

Blinking In Human Communicative Behaviour And It's Reproduction In Artificial Agents, Christopher Colin Ford

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

A significant year-on-year rise in the creation and sales of personal and domestic robotic systems and the development of online embodied communicative agents (ECAs) has in parallel seen an increase in end-users from the public domain interacting with these systems. A number of these robotic/ECA systems are defined as social, whereby they are physically designed to resemble the bodily structure of a human and behaviorally designed to exist within human social surroundings. Their behavioural design is especially important with respect to communication as it is commonly stated that for any social robotic/ECA system to be truly useful within its role, …

Comparison Of Behaviour Exhibited By Horses Ridden In Conventional Bitted And Bitless Bridles, Rose Margaret Scofield

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

The bitless bridle has been advocated as an alternative to traditional bitted bridles in many equestrian disciplines in order to avoid bit injury and distress that has been reported in previous research. Anecdotal observations and lay publications suggest that the bitless bridle has become very popular amongst riders and horse owners in the United Kingdom. The bitless bridle has been compared favourably to the use of the bit in foundation training with improved performance in bridling, long-reining and riding reported for some horses in the bitless sample group. Similarly, improved dressage test scores and comments by a judge have been …

Plant Tissue Culture And Artificial Seed Production Techniques For Cauliflower And Their Use To Study Molecular Analysis Of Abiotic Stress Tolerance, Hail Rihan

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

A protocol for cauliflower micro-propagule production was developed and optimised for both micropropagation and artificial seed production techniques using meristematic tissues from cauliflower curd. All steps in the protocol were empirically optimised including: blending, sieving, culture methods, liquid culture media composition and plant growth regulator combinations and concentrations. The cost of the micro-propagules could be reduced by as much as 50% on the initial costings reported previously since treatments doubled the number of microshoots produced per culture unit. The research confirmed the suitability of cauliflower microshoots to be encapsulated as artificial seeds and an effective protocol for microshoot encapsulation was …

The Role Of Cd38 Expression On Nad Levels And Cell Physiology In A Leukaemia Model, Zainab N Al-Abady

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

CD38 is a transmembrane glycoprotein with both ADP-ribosyl cyclase/cyclic ADP-ribose hydrolase activities; it is also known as a cell surface receptor. CD38 utilizes NAD(P) as a substrate to produce the second messengers, Nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NAADP) and Cyclic adenosine diphosphate ribose (cADPR). CD38 has been implicated in several diseases. For instance, in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), it is known as a poor prognostic marker and as a disease modifier. Also, abundant data are available on the receptor functions of CD38 in CLL. However, the aim of the work described in this thesis was to investigate the enzymatic functions …

Development And Characterisation Of A Three-Dimensional In Vitro Hepatic Fish Model To Investigate Xenobiotic Metabolism, Matthew Graham Joesph Baron

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Regulatory and academic studies use large numbers of fish annually. The use of fish primary cells offers an in vitro alternative for the assessment of chemical toxicity and the evaluation of environmental samples in ecotoxicology. Their uses however are not without limitations which includes short culture periods (i.e. longevity and loss of organ-specific functionality over time. Three-dimensional (3-D spheroid) technology is now established for in vitro mammalian toxicity studies and offers significant advantages for environmental applications in a model fish species. This thesis reports development of a reproducible six-well plate, gyratory-mediated method for rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) hepatocyte spheroid culture …

Multiplicity Of Viral Infection In Brown Algae, Kim Stevens

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

Brown algae are important primary producers and habitat formers in coastal environments and are believed to have evolved multicellularity independently of the other eukaryotes. The phaeoviruses that infect them form a stable lysogenic relationship with their host via genome integration, but have only been extensively studied in two genera: Ectocarpus and Feldmannia. In this study I aim to improve our understanding of the genetic diversity, host range and distribution of phaeoviruses. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of amplified fragments of three core phaeoviral genes (encoding major capsid protein (MCP), DNA polymerase and superfamily III helicase) of phaeovirus infected algae confirmed the …

The Integration Of Coastal Flooding Into An Arcflood Data Model, Alison Heidi Nock

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

With the impact of global climate change, the speedy, intelligent and accessible dissemination of coastal flood predictions from a number of modelling tools at a range of temporal and spatial scales becomes increasingly important for policy decision makers. This thesis provides a novel approach to integrate the coastal flood data into an ArcFLOOD data model to improve the analysis, assessment and mitigation of the potential flood risk in coastal zones. This novel methodology has improved the accessibility, dissemination and visualisation of coastal flood risk. The results were condensed into spatial information flows, data model schematic diagrams and XML schema for …

Between Selves And Others: Exploring Strategic Approaches Within Visual Art, Teresa Chen

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This body of research investigates how visual artists express ideas or meanings about Otherness and issues of belonging in their art. The focus of this study is on women artists with an (East) Asian diasporic background; however, the context of the inquiry includes other American and European artists of various cultural backgrounds. A further aim is to explore the artistic strategies and the historical circumstances of the works as well as to understand the theoretical correlations. The author of this study is a visual artist who has been exploring similar issues in her own artistic practice. In order to examine …

Facing Experience: A Painter's Canvas In Virtual Reality, Margaret Dolinsky

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This research investigates how shifts in perception might be brought about through the development of visual imagery created by the use of virtual environment technology. Through a discussion of historical uses of immersion in art, this thesis will explore how immersion functions and why immersion has been a goal for artists throughout history. It begins with a discussion of ancient cave drawings and the relevance of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. Next it examines the biological origins of “making special.” The research will discuss how this concept, combined with the ideas of “action” and “reaction,” has reinforced the view that …

Perceiving Voids: Memory And Sight Afflictions In Contemporary Cinema, Francesco Marineo

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

My thesis focuses on the perceptive afflictions caused by alteration of the normal biological functioning of sight and memory. These afflictions are related to the redefinition and disgregation of the classical and postclassical cinematographic characters, and affect cinematographic language, establishing a dialectical relation with the filmic image that contaminates our spectatorial perception. In the first chapter I propose a different reading of a few moments in film history, turning points in which a modification of the ordinary sensorial patterns has been introduced. From the German Expressionism to the late authorial experiments of the 60s, there is a sort of hidden …

Discourses Pertaining To, And Lived Experiences Of, 'Maternal Obesity' (Body Mass Index (Bmi) ≥ 30) And Gestational Diabetes Mellitus/Type Two Diabetes Mellitus In The Pregnancy And Post-Birth Period., Rachel Juliet Jarvie

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis reports on a qualitative exploration of the experiences of 30 women designated as ‘high risk’ due to the co-existence of ‘maternal obesity’ (BMI ≥ 30) and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM)/Type Two Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) in pregnancy. This is examined in the context of medico-scientific/public health/ popular media discourses pertaining to ‘maternal obesity’/GDM/T2DM in pregnancy. ‘Maternal obesity’/GDM/T2DM in pregnancy are increasingly prevalent and clinically associated in manifold ways. Increasing prevalence is linked to the ‘global epidemic’ of ‘obesity’/diabetes: now commonly referred to as ‘diabesity’. Current biomedical knowledge asserts ‘maternal obesity’ and diabetes (‘maternal diabesity’) synergise in causing adverse pregnancy …

An Investigation Of The Coherence Of Instrumental Accumulation, Using A Sculptural Methodology, Nicola Ann Gilmour

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis questions the coherence of modes of fabrication that introduce materials to a living context, in forms that resist the processes of biological change. In doing so this project explores the ideologies embedded in fabrication that have led to this current position. The implications of an accumulation of materials being recognized as an autonomous object, and treated as if they are detached from their environment are also expanded. The sculptural methodology used to undertake this investigation has used the feature of materiality and it’s behaviours, of both human fabrication and the living environment, as a means to explore processes …

The Multidimensional Depth Of The Image: Body-Environment-Artefact (A Philosophical Reflection For Graphic Design), Martyn Stuart Woodward

School of Art, Design and Architecture Theses

The Multidimensional Depth of the Image: Body-Environment-Artefact Current discourses within cultural studies are re-iterating the limitations of language to adequately describe the affective domains of corporeality and materiality in the study of cultural artefacts. Within the discourse of graphic design, however, there remains an enduring focus placed upon models of language and communication to understand the meaning of designed materials. Rather than upholding a focus upon language, this thesis undertakes a theoretical investigation to extend the literature available to the discourse of graphic design to better understand how visual materials ‘come to mean’ within the experience of an embodied subject …

The Bioavailability And Assimilation Of Dietary Zinc In Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss), Daniel James Leeming

Other Faculty of Science and Engineering Theses

This study examines three possible methods for improving the digestibility and bioavailability of zinc to rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mikiss). The first method was to examine the availability of the zinc utilisation from commonly used protein sources; the second was to assess the efficacy of the upstream use of an enzyme treatment of the raw materials; the third was to assess the use of organically complexed mineral supplements as opposed to the inorganic salts widely used at present. The first section indicated that the zinc from the soyabean meal was the most available (49.4%). The zinc digestibilities of the animal based …