Digital Commons Network^™

Fish, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) And Natural Resource Injury, Daniel W. Sparks

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) program is authorized by the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) to pursue compensation for injury to, or destruction and loss of, natural resources. Fish are an important "natural resource" present in almost all aquatic ecosystems. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a hazardous substance and have been shown to cause harm to fish (and fish-eating animals). A series of investigations were conducted to determine if "injury" had occurred to creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) and in one study, the fish community that creek chubs were a part of, …

The Outcome Of Elisa For Antiphosphatidylethanolamine Antibodies Is Dependent On The Composition Of Phosphatidylethanolamine, Songwang Hou, Paul E. Harper, Nathalie Bardin, Ming Zhao

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Objective The presence of circulating autoantibodies against phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) has been shown to be positively associated with symptoms of antiphospholipid syndromes (APS). However, the current ELISA-based tests for antiphosphatidylethanolamine (aPE) antibodies remain inconsistent and controversial. The term PE refers to a collection of phospholipids that have phosphorylethanolamine head group as a common structural feature, but can vary in fatty acids with diverse physicochemical properties. The present study was to investigate, using synthetic positionally symmetrical PE species as a model system, the impact of PE structural variations on aPE ELISA. Methods Single and combinations of synthetic PE species, including 16:0 (fatty …

Implementation Of The Signs Of Suicide Prevention Program With 9th Grade Students In A Public School Setting, Jessica Tennant

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This quality improvement project examined the effectiveness of the use of the Signs of Suicide Prevention Program for educating 9th grade students. Pre-tests and post-tests were administered to twelve participating students which focused on knowledge about depression, suicide and suicide prevention. A t-test was performed to evaluate a difference in pre-test and post-test scores. A single open-ended question was included on the post-test, "Please write 2 things you could do to prevent suicide?" Results were found to be statistically significant (t(11) = 4.432, p=11), 95% confidence interval (-2.49, -0.84). The overall mean difference was -1.67. Additional descriptive data was collected …

The Fabianization Of The British Empire: Postwar Colonial Summer Conferences And Community Development In Kenya And Uganda, 1948-1956, Joseph M. Snyder

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines the influence of the Fabian Society on Britain's postwar colonial development regime between 1948 and 1956. This study demonstrates that a primary vehicle for the "Fabianization" of the British Empire was the Cambridge Summer Conference series, particularly the conference convened in 1948. Held on the "Encouragement of Initiative in African Society", the conference devised a policy framework of community development based on a model of mass education long-favored by Arthur Creech Jones, former chair of the Fabian Colonial Bureau (FCB) and then Secretary of State for the Colonies.;While the findings of this study attest that Fabian influence …

The Accompanying Servant-Leader: Facilitating Change That Builds Engaged Partnerships, Josh P. Armstrong, Larry C. Spears

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

Many of us want to make a difference in our communities, and in our personal and professional lives. We want to be leaders, bringing change to a world that seems increasingly hungry for transformation. However, one doesn t need to look very far to see examples of those leaders with good intentions, both home and abroad, who get in the way of true change (Ellerman, 2006; Moyo, 2009). Often as not, the source of failure is overemphasizing tangible results while underemphasizing process. If we are to make a sustainable difference, we must focus on accompaniment more than accomplishment.

Forgiveness And Reconciliation As An Organizational Leadership Competency Within Transitional Justice Instruments, Andrew Campbell

International Journal of Servant-Leadership

The socio-cultural and ethnic trauma experienced by victims of human rights violations impact not only post reconstruction activities but also stable governance initiatives as transitional leaders foster national reconciliation in a post conflict environment. Scholars note that demands upon transitional leaders range from macroeconomic stabilization and generation of employment to anti-corruption and sustainability of markets; at the same time, physical and territorial security call for accountability and justice for perpetrators under the rule of law in the aftermath of human rights violations committed during conflict (Oola, 2015; Sammi, 2010; Saunders, 2011). Yet, if forgiveness and reconciliation are not included as …

Information Centric Strategies For Scalable Data Transport In Cyber Physical Systems (Cpss), Ajay Krishna Teja Kavuri

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) represent the next generation of computing that is ubiquitous, wireless and intelligent. These networked sens- ing systems are at the intersection of sensing, communication, control, and computing [16]. Such systems will have applications in numerous elds such as vehicular systems and transportation, medical and health care systems, smart homes and buildings, etc. The proliferation of such sensing systems will trigger an exponential increase in the computational devices that exchange data over existing network infrastructure.;Transporting data at scale in such systems is a challenge [21] mainly due to the underlying network infrastructure which is still resource con- strained …

Neural Networks In Strategic Marketing: Exploring The Possibilities, Kristen Bell Detienne, David H. Detienne

Faculty Publications

A review of the literature indicates that few studies have used artificial neural networks (ANNs) for data analysis in business and marketing research, even though there are many benefits to the use of ANNs. Therefore, this article discusses neural networks (NNs) that can be used in addition to or as an alternative to linear regression for data analysis in strategic marketing. The function and layout of NNs make them ideal for research dealing with nonlinear, incomplete, unspecified, or ‘fuzzy’ data and offer several advantages over linear regression. Unfortunately, in many marketing studies, the information being modeled is far from flawless …

Charge Transfer Dissociation Mass Spectrometry Of Biomolecules, Pengfei Li

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Recent advances in many biological disciplines are closely related to the development and application of new mass spectrometry techniques. The investigation of gas-phase ion activation techniques is one of the active research fields. Although researchers have developed a variety of ion activation techniques, they all suffer from certain intrinsic limitations---either limited in the types of fragment ions, or limited by the inefficiency with low charge-state precursor ions. Most of the ion activation techniques are not commercially available, and are at their developing stages.;As an attempt to explore new possibilities of fragmenting a gas-phase ion, charge transfer dissociation (CTD) was developed …

A Work Flow And Evaluation Of Using Unmanned Aerial Systems For Deriving Forest Stand Characteristics In Mixed Hardwoods Of West Virginia, Henry Liebermann

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Forest inventory information is a principle driver for forest management decisions. Information gathered through these inventories provides a summary of the condition of forested stands. The method by which remote sensing aids land managers is changing rapidly. Imagery produced from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) offer high temporal and spatial resolutions and have added another approach to small-scale forest management. UAS imagery is less expensive and easier to coordinate to meet project needs compared to traditional manned aerial imagery. This study focused on producing an efficient and approachable work flow for producing forest stand board foot volume estimates from UAS imagery …

Taiwanese Composer Tyzen Hsiao: Pedagogical Aspects Of Selected Piano Solo Works, Tzu-Nung Lin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research project examines selected piano works by Taiwanese composer Tyzen Hsiao, who was born in 1938 and passed away in February, 2015. While Hsiao's music reveals influences from several different cultures, his main focus was the music of Taiwan, even though he decided to leave his homeland for the United States and was unable to return for more than 18 years because of volatile political issues within Taiwan. In his works, he uses the materials and compositional techniques of the 19th and 20th centuries, along with pentatonic scales and church styles; frequently, he also includes Taiwanese folk elements in …

Cesarean Deliveries And Maternal Weight Retention, Kandice A. Kapinos, Olga Yakusheva, Marianne E. Weiss

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Cesarean delivery accounts for nearly one-third of all births in the U.S. and contributes to an additional $38 billion in healthcare costs each year. Although Cesarean delivery has a long record of improving maternal and neonatal mortality and morbidity, increased utilization over time has yielded public health concerns and calls for reductions. Observational evidence suggests Cesarean delivery is associated with increased maternal postpartum weight, which may have significant implications for the obesity epidemic. Previous literature, however, typically does not address selection biases stemming from correlations of pre-pregnancy weight and reproductive health with Cesarean delivery.

Methods

We used fetal malpresentation …

The Connection Between Drug Use And Crime In Western Australia, Kathryn Riordan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite decades of research, there is no consensus as to the factors that explain the association between drug use and criminal behaviour. While the evolving sophistication in research methodology has identified factors that are associated with involvement in both drug use and crime, exploration of the idiosyncratic factors that contribute to initiation, maintenance and desistence in drug use and criminal behaviour over time, across culture and social context remains unknown. In this research a grounded theory approach was used to develop an explanatory model based on the reported experiences of 22 non-Aboriginal and 11 Aboriginal adult male offenders, incarcerated in …

Women In District Assemblies In Ghana: Gender Construction, Resistance And Empowerment, Janet Serwah Boateng

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Calls for more female participation in politics have featured strongly in developed and developing countries since 1975 when the UN made women’s issues a priority. Ghanaian society’s underlying patriarchal structure has made some progress towards gender equity in politics. Whilst there has been a significant improvement in levels of female participation and representation rates, targets have not been reached and the least amount of progress has taken place in local government. The thesis draws upon theories of gender and development (GAD) that emphasises on gender relations in development and proposed the empowerment of women as central to gender equality. Also, …

Making Sense Of Propofol Sedation For Endoscopy, J. R. Sneyd

More Faculty of Health Research

No abstract provided.

Modelling Quality Dynamics On Business Value And Firm Performance In Big Data Analytics Environment, Ren S Ji-Fan, Wamba S Fosso, S Akter, R Dubey, Sj Childe

Plymouth Business School

Big data analytics have become an increasingly important component for firms across advanced economies. This paper examines the quality dynamics in big data environment that are linked with enhancing business value and firm performance. The study identifies that system quality (i.e., system reliability, accessibility, adaptability, integration, response time and privacy) and information quality (i.e., completeness, accuracy, format and currency) are key to enhance business value and firm performance in a big data environment. The study also proposes that the relationship between quality and firm performance is mediated by business value of big data. Drawing on the resource based theory and …

Women’S Experiences Of Personalised Support For Asthma Care During Pregnancy: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Graham R. Williamson, A O’Connor, Elmslie Jones Kayleigh

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Application Of Rasch Analysis In The Development And Psychometric Evaluation Of Dental Undergraduates Preparedness Assessment Scale, K. Ali, A. Slade, E. J. Kay, D. Zahra, A. Chatterjee, C. Tredwin

Peninsula Dental School

No abstract provided.

Porphyromonas Gingivalis-Stimulated Macrophage Subsets Exhibit Differential Induction And Responsiveness To Interleukin-10, Andrew D. Foey, Neama Habil, Khalid Al-Shaghdali, St John Crean

School of Biomedical Sciences

No abstract provided.

Toxicity Of Organic Compounds From Unresolved Complex Mixtures (Ucms) To Primary Fish Hepatocytes, Steven J. Rowland, Karina Petersen, Maria T. Hultman, Knut Erik Tollefsen

More Faculty of Science and Engineering Research

Many environmental matrices contaminated with organic pollutants derived from crude oil or degraded petroleum contain mixtures so complex that they are typically unresolved by conventional analytical techniques such as gas chromatography. The resulting chromatographic features have become known as 'humps' or unresolved complex mixtures (UCMs). These UCMs often dominate the organic contaminants of polluted environmental samples: for example, in oil sands produced water up to 150mgL-1 of 'naphthenic acids' appear as UCMs when examined by gas chromatography as the esters. In oil-contaminated mussels, aromatic hydrocarbon UCMs may comprise almost all of the total toxic hydrocarbons, with over 7000μgg-1 dry weight …

Erratum. Direct Substrate Delivery Into Mitochondrial Fission–Deficient Pancreatic Islets Rescues Insulin Secretion. Diabetes 2017;66:1247–1257, Ud Kabra, K Pfuhlmann, A Migliorini, S Keipert, D Lamp, O Korsgren, M Gegg, Sc Woods, Pt Pfluger, H Lickert, C Affourtit, Mh Tschöp, M Jastroch

School of Biomedical Sciences

No abstract provided.

Trace Elements In Fragments Of Fishing Net And Other Filamentous Plastic Litter From Two Beaches In Sw England, Andrew Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Communities In Action: Developing A Dental Ambassador Training Programme For Adults With Learning Disability., R. Witton, R. Potterton, W. Smith

Peninsula Dental School

Adults with learning disabilities may be at higher risk of poor oral health. The community outreach programme attached to Plymouth University Peninsula Dental School used established links with local agencies for this group to try out an intervention using service users as dental ambassadors. A programme was developed to meet the needs of the group and training in oral health key messages was provided along with support in presentation skills. Early evaluation shows promise in terms of feasibility, interest and improved self-care. Public health competencies being illustrated: Strategic leadership, communication, teaching and training, and collaborative working for health and oral …

The Effect Of Hospital Biocide Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate On The Viability And Properties Of Clostridium Difficile Spores., L. T. Joshi, A. Welsch, J. Hawkins, L. Baillie

Peninsula Dental School

UNLABELLED: Clostridium difficile is the primary cause of healthcare-associated diarrhoea globally and produces spores which are resistant to commonly used biocides and are able persist on contaminated surfaces for months. This study examined the effect of sublethal concentrations of the biocide sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) on the viability of spores produced by 21 clinical isolates of C. difficile representing a range of PCR ribotypes. Spores exposed to 500 ppm NaDCC for 10 min exhibited between a 4-6 log10 reduction in viability which was independent of spore PCR ribotype. The effect of sublethal concentrations of biocide on the surface properties of exosporium …

On Vs. Off Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: The Next Chapter, Nicola King

School of Biomedical Sciences

No abstract provided.

Rapid Rhd Zygosity Determination Using Digital Pcr., Kelly A. Sillence, Amr J. Halawani, Wajnat A. Tounsi, Kirsty A. Clarke, Michele Kiernan, Tracey E. Madgett, Neil D. Avent

School of Biomedical Sciences

BACKGROUND: Paternal zygosity testing is used for determining homo- or hemizygosity of RHD in pregnancies that are at a risk of hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. At present, this is achieved by using real-time PCR or the Rhesus box PCR, which can be difficult to interpret and unreliable, particularly for black African populations. METHODS: DNA samples extracted from 58 blood donors were analyzed using 2 multiplex reactions for RHD-specific targets against a reference (AGO1)(2) to determine gene dosage by digital PCR. Results were compared with serological data, and the correct genotype for 2 discordant results was determined by …

Ab0115 Comparison Of The Bacterial Stool Microbiota In Established Psoriatic Arthritis (Psa) And Psoriasis (Psc) - Exploratory Analysis Of Pilot Data, M Castelino, M Tutino, J Moat, Uz Ijaz, R Parslew, A Al-Sharqi, Rb Warren, C Quince, P Ho, M Upton, S Eyre, A Barton

School of Biomedical Sciences

No abstract provided.

Is There A Long-Term Survival Benefit With On Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting?, Nicola King

School of Biomedical Sciences

A simple choice? Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) has become the gold standard of care for the treatment of coronary artery disease involving multiple vessels (1). This involves a choice as to whether to perform the surgery on (with cardiopulmonary bypass, CPB) or off pump (on the beating heart, without CPB). Each technique has its advantages and disadvantages. On pump surgery provides a motionless operative field, but can be associated with a number of complications including myocardial ischemic injury, coagulation disorders, neurocognitive deficits, strokes and a systemic inflammatory response (2). In contrast off pump surgery avoids aortic manipulation and, although …

Decoupling Vaccine Laws, Dorit Rubenstein Reiss

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Supporting The Retention Of Non-Traditional Students In Higher Education Using A Resilience Framework, Dre Cotton, T Nash, P Kneale

Plymouth Institute of Education

Student drop-out in higher education is an increasingly important issue across Europe, but there are substantial disparities between countries and institutions which suggest that variations in policies and practices may influence student retention and success. Numerous schemes have been devised to increase student retention, frequently focusing on non-traditional groups. Retention efforts include scholarships and bursaries, enhanced monitoring and support measures, and specialist teams of staff or peer mentors. Theoretical understanding of the withdrawal of non-traditional students typically draws on social and cultural capital concepts (Bourdieu, 1986), which may have led to a rather deterministic approach to student success. Research with …