Digital Commons Network^™

Kaolinite As An Amendment For Counteracting Hydrophobicity In Artificial Peat-Based Potting Substrates, Sarah Bettany

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

It has been demonstrated in pot experiments at Duchy College Rosewarne, Cornwall, U.K. that adding kaolinite (china clay) to growing media results in an increase in plant biomass. However, the underlying reason for this response is unknown, though, it is speculated that it improves the plants’ ability to tolerate stressful conditions such as heat and drought. In this study four artificial organic substrates (peat, peat/green waste, John Innes no.2 and a bark-based substrate) containing different concentrations of kaolinite (0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 40%) were tested for capillary rise and water drop penetration time (WDPT). In addition, plant growth experiments …

Antibacterial Properties Of Tio2 Nanotubes Coated With Nano-Zno And Nano-Ag, Urvashi Fowdar Gunputh

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

TiO2 nanotubes grown on titanium alloy are known to increase the biocompatibility of the alloy when used in dental/orthopaedic implants. Furthermore, their nanotubular structures can act as antibacterial agent carrier and as a scaffold for tissue engineering with the aim of adding antibacterial properties to the implant. This study aims at fabricating an antibacterial and biocompatible nanocomposite coating on Ti-6Al-4V involving nano-ZnO and nano-Ag. Initially, TiO2 nanotubes were self-assembled on the polished surface of medical grade Ti-6Al-4V alloy discs using anodisation. First silver nanoparticles were chemically reduced from silver ammonia using delta-δ-gluconolactone for different duration on the nanotubes to form …

Ocean Acidification And Warming Impacts On Native And Non-Native Shellfish: A Multidisciplinary Assessment, Anaëlle J. Lemasson

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Ocean acidification and warming have been shown to affect a wide range of marine organisms and impact assemblages and ecosystems. Many of the species experiencing negative biological effects provide valuable ecosystem services, yet it is unclear how these biological effects will affect ecosystem services provision. This thesis aimed to appraise the consequences of ocean acidification and warming on important shellfish species, from physiology to provision of ecosystem services, using a multidisciplinary approach. The responses to ocean acidification and warming of two ecologically and commercially important species of oysters – the native European Flat oyster Ostrea edulis, and the non-native Pacific …

Discolouration Complaints In Minced Meat. Do The Food Miles Travelling Affect The Customer Complaints?, Marta Martins Alves

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Meat discolouration is an area of significance to the meat processing industry since customers expect meat to have a bright red colour when purchased. Normally, when exposed to oxygen the myoglobin pigment in meat will give it this bright red colour as it is in the form of oxymyoglobin, but this may turn to the brown pigment metmyoglobin, and to prevent this meat is packed under a modified atmosphere containing a mix of carbon dioxide, oxygen and nitrogen. The factory under consideration, Factory X, is located in the far SW of the UK and dispatches meat to depots across the …

Consumer Willingness To Pay And Economic Viability Of Speciality Milk Products, Andrew Jones

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Industrial change over the past century has driven a decline in UK dairy farming. This study examines potential diversification within the sector through investigating consumer demand and the economic viability of ‘speciality’ milk products. The data for this study was collected from both consumers and producers in order to produce a model integrating both supply and demand economics. Information from consumers was collected via a questionnaire whereby dairy farming knowledge, opinion and willingness to pay (WTP) for speciality milk products was investigated. As economic or production data for speciality products is not readily available, this information was gathered through multiple …

The Effect Of Rein Type And Bit Type On Rein Tension In The Ridden Horse, Megan O'Neill

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

An important area of Equitation Science is rein tension; which is used to control ridden and unridden horses primarily using the application of negative reinforcement. Rein tension is affected by several variables including the rider, horse and equipment, although not all aspects of these variables have been studied. The work undertaken for this thesis comprised of three separate yet interlinked sections. The first identified (by qualitative questionnaire) the most commonly used bridle, reins and bit types and why the equestrian population use them. The results produced determined which rein and bit types would be trialled in the second and third …

The Bioavailability And Biological Effects Of Nanomaterials Towards Escherichia Coli: With Reference To The Soil Environment, Joanne Vassallo

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are specifically designed with different functionalities to satisfy required industrial, medical or commercial purposes. The inevitable release of these materials to the environment may impact negatively bacteria that are essential for the ecosystem’s well-being. This work aimed to identify features that determine the hazardous nature of nanomaterials to bacteria. At first, the bacterial growth inhibition concentrations for silver (Ag), cupric oxide (CuO), cadmium telluride quantum dots (CdTe QDs), titanium dioxide (TiO2), nanodiamonds and multi-walled carbon nanotubes were determined on Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 grown in 96-well plates. The nano-forms of Ag, CuO, TiO2 and the CdTe QDs …

Mixing And Dispersion Of A Small Estuarine Plume, Megan Sheridan

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Entrainment velocity, salt flux and the turbulent diffusivity of salt are estimated in the outflow of a small, radially spreading buoyant outflow, just outside of the Teign Estuary mouth, as a means to compare mixing dynamics between very small and larger–scale estuarine and river plumes, and build on a scant knowledge base regarding the former. The analysis was made using a control volume approach, based on the conservation of momentum, volume and salt, from a Lagrangian perspective. Drifting buoys were used to accomplish this. The analysis was based on that employed by McCabe et al. (2008), with some modifications to …

Patterns And Process: Biodiversity And Ecosystem Function Response To Changes In The Arable Landscape, Nicholas Alexander James Berkley

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Land use change is a major driver of species loss worldwide, the extent and intensity of agricultural land use poses particular pressures for biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides. In recent years, agroecosystems have seen the introduction of 2nd generation bioenergy crops in order to tackle anthropogenic climate change, providing a renewable alternative to fossil fuels. In this thesis I study the impact of cultivating two commercial perennial energy crops (PECs), Miscanthus x giganteus and willow short-rotation coppice, when compared to the cereal crops they replace. I investigate processes relevant to the provisioning of pollination and decomposition services and …

A Review Of Heat Stress Policies In The Context Of Climate Change And Its Impacts On Outdoor Workers: Evidence From Zimbabwe, Bigboy Ngwenya, Jacques Oosthuizen, Martyn Cross, Kwasi Frimpong, Cynthia N. Chaibva

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Record-breaking summer heat events are increasing in frequency in Zimbabwe and 2016 was a particularly hot year with the country experiencing its worst heat wave event in decades. Currently, Zimbabwe has no coordinated public health response to deal with heat wave events and no specific data on heat-related morbidity and mortality. The country has no legislation for protecting workers against environmental heat exposure, particularly those most vulnerable who are employed in the informal sector. These workers are also at risk due to their outdoor work environments. The article outlines the state of climate and heat stresses in Zimbabwe, as benchmarked …

Factors Associated With The Use Of Complementary And Alternative Medicines For Prostate Cancer By Long-Term Survivors, Sam Egger, Suzanne Hughes, David P. Smith, Suzanne Chambers, Clare Kahn, Annette Moxey, Dianne L. O'Connell

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objective

To assess whether the use of complementary and alternative medicines therapies (CAMs) for prostate cancer and/or its treatment side effects by long-term survivors is associated with selected socio-demographic, clinical, health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) and/or psychological factors.

Design, setting and participants

The Prostate Cancer Care and Outcomes Study (PCOS) is a population-based cohort study of men with prostate cancer who were aged less than 70 years at diagnosis in New South Wales, Australia. Included in these analyses were men who returned a 10-year follow-up questionnaire, which included questions about CAM use.

Methods

Validated instruments assessed patient’s HRQOL and psychological well-being. Poisson …

A Marine Heatwave Drives Massive Losses From The World’S Largest Seagrass Carbon Stocks, A. Arias-Ortiz, Oscar Serrano, Pere Masque´, Paul S. Lavery, Ute Mueller, G. A. Kendrick, Mohammad Rozaimi, Alba Esteban, J. W. Fourqurean, N. Marba, Miguel-Angel Mateo, K. Murray, M. J. Rule, C. M. Duarte

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Seagrass ecosystems contain globally significant organic carbon (C) stocks. However, climate change and increasing frequency of extreme events threaten their preservation. Shark Bay, Western Australia, has the largest C stock reported for a seagrass ecosystem, containing up to 1.3% of the total C stored within the top metre of seagrass sediments worldwide. On the basis of field studies and satellite imagery, we estimate that 36% of Shark Bay’s seagrass meadows were damaged following a marine heatwave in 2010/2011. Assuming that 10 to 50% of the seagrass sediment C stock was exposed to oxic conditions after disturbance, between 2 and 9 …

Association Of Wrist Circumference And Waist-To-Height Ratio With Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Among Type Ii Diabetics In A Ghanaian Population, Christian Obirikorang, Yaa Obirikorang, Emmanuel Acheampong, Enoch Odame Anto, Emmanuel Toboh, Evans Adu Asamoah, Bright Amakwaa, Emmanuella Nsenbah Batu, Peter Brenya

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The study determined the association of wrist circumference (WrC) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) with cardiometabolic risk factors among diabetics in a Ghanaian population. This cross-sectional study involved 384 diabetic patients at Begoro District Hospital, Ghana. Blood pressure, anthropometrics, and biochemical indices were measured. The overall prevalence of dyslipidaemia, metabolic syndrome (MetS), and hypertension was 42.4%, 76.3%, and 39.8%, respectively. The optimum cut-off range of WrC to identify individuals at increased cardiometabolic risk was 17.5 to –17.8 cm for men and 16.0 to 16.7 cm for women while that of WHtR was 0.52 to 0.61 for men and 0.53 to 0.59 …

On Legitimacy In Impact Assessment: An Epistemologically-Based Conceptualisation, Alan Bond, Jenny Pope, Francois Retief, Angus Morrison-Saunders

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Impact assessment (IA) is carried out as an ex ante process to inform decision-making. It includes requirements for engagement with stakeholders (including the public) regarding actions proposed by a proponent. A key issue with the various stakeholders involved is the perceived legitimacy of the IA, which can have implications both for the reputation of the proponent, and the likelihood of conflict over the decision. But the understanding of legitimacy in the IA literature has changed over time in line with an ontological shift from positivism (that scientifically generated information leads to better informed decisions) to the post-positivist acknowledgement of the …

The Potential Synergistic Behaviour Of Inter- And Intra-Genus Probiotic Combinations In The Pattern And Rate Of Short Chain Fatty Acids Formation During Fibre Fermentation, Warnakulasuriya M. A. D. B. Fernando, Steve H. Flint, K. K. D. S. Ranaweera, Arthur Bamunuarachchi, Stuart K. Johnson, Charles S. Brennan

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study compared the rate of short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production by different probiotic combinations of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium to determine any synergistic effects. Six different fibre fractions were fermented with nine combinations of Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LR), Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA), Bifidobacterium longum (BL) and Bifidobacterium breve (BB) for 0, 6, 24 and 48 h. SCFAs were quantified by gas chromatography. Inter-genus combinations of bacteria produced more SCFA, especially BB + BL + LR, compared to intra-genus that yielded the lowest SCFA production. Acetate was the most abundant, while propionate and butyrate were the most utilised. The SCFA formation was …

Reviews And Syntheses: 210pb-Derived Sediment And Carbon Accumulation Rates In Vegetated Coastal Ecosystems – Setting The Record Straight, Ariane Arias-Ortiz, Pere Masque´, Jordi Garcia-Orellana, Oscar Serrano, Ines Mazarrasa, Nuria Marba, Catherine E. Lovelock, Paul S. Lavery, Carlos M. Duarte

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Vegetated coastal ecosystems, including tidal marshes, mangroves and seagrass meadows, are being increasingly assessed in terms of their potential for carbon dioxide sequestration worldwide. However, there is a paucity of studies that have effectively estimated the accumulation rates of sediment organic carbon (C_org), also termed blue carbon, beyond the mere quantification of C_org stocks. Here, we discuss the use of the ²¹⁰Pb dating technique to determine the rate of C_org accumulation in these habitats. We review the most widely used ²¹⁰Pb dating models to assess their limitations in these ecosystems, often composed of …

Factors Controlling The Community Structure Of Picoplankton In Contrasting Marine Environments, Jose Luis Otero-Ferrer, Pedro Cermeno, Antonio Bode, Bieito Fernandez-Castro, Josep M. Gasol, Xose Anxelu G. Moran, Emilio Maranon, Victor Moreira-Coello, Marta M. Varela, Marina Villamana, Beatriz Mourino-Carballido

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The effect of inorganic nutrients on planktonic assemblages has traditionally relied on concentrations rather than estimates of nutrient supply. We combined a novel dataset of hydrographic properties, turbulent mixing, nutrient concentration, and picoplankton community composition with the aims of (i) quantifying the role of temperature, light, and nitrate fluxes as factors controlling the distribution of autotrophic and heterotrophic picoplankton subgroups, as determined by flow cytometry, and (ii) describing the ecological niches of the various components of the picoplankton community. Data were collected at 97 stations in the Atlantic Ocean, including tropical and subtropical open-ocean waters, the northwestern Mediterranean Sea, and …

Insulin Therapy And Autoimmune Disease With Relevance To Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Ian James Martins

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The diabetes epidemic is now expected by the year 2050 to become a global pandemic with approx. 592 million affected in both the developed and developing world. The treatment of diabetes by insulin therapy has been the focus for many diabetics with the improvement and prevention of various diseases such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and neurodegeneration. The global nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) epidemic has now become of major concern to diabetes with critical interest in insulin therapy to reverse and stabilize autoimmune disease with relevance to NAFLD and the diabetes pandemic. Dietary components that activate anti-aging genes improve …

Review Of Deep Learning Methods In Robotic Grasp Detection, Shehan Caldera, Alexander Rassau, Douglas Chai

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

For robots to attain more general-purpose utility, grasping is a necessary skill to master. Such general-purpose robots may use their perception abilities to visually identify grasps for a given object. A grasp describes how a robotic end-effector can be arranged to securely grab an object and successfully lift it without slippage. Traditionally, grasp detection requires expert human knowledge to analytically form the task-specific algorithm, but this is an arduous and time-consuming approach. During the last five years, deep learning methods have enabled significant advancements in robotic vision, natural language processing, and automated driving applications. The successful results of these methods …

Contemporary Fire Regimes Of The Arid Carnarvon Basin Region Of Western Australia, Megan Ladbrook, Eddie Van Etten, William D. Stock

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study investigates the fire regime for the arid Carnarvon Basin region of Western Australia using remotely sensed imagery. A fire history database was constructed from satellite images to characterise the general fire regime and determine any effect of vegetation types and pre-fire weather and climate. The study area was divided into two sections (northern and southern) due to their inherently different vegetation and climate. A total of 23.8% (15,646 km2) of the study area was burnt during the 39-year study period. Heathland vegetation (54%) burnt the most extensively in the southern study area, and hummock grasslands (68%) in the …

Genetics Unit Lesson Plan For The Next Generation Science Standards, Erin Hogan

Graduate Research Papers

In 2015, Iowa’s adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) compelled the Waterloo Community Schools to set a goal of complete alignment to those standards by the 2018-2019 school year. In order to prepare for this transition, I chose to focus my creative component on the development and implementation of a NGSS aligned unit on Genetics for a sophomore level biology course. The unit focused on the Performance Expectation (PE) HS-LS3-3: Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population and incorporated all three dimensions of the NGSS: Science and …

The Effects Of Mycorrhizal Inoculant And Micronutrients On Early Plant Establshment During A Tallgrass Prairie Reconstruction, Christopher L. Barber

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Symbiotic relationships between mycorrhizal fungi and land plants are one of the most widespread examples of symbiosis on Earth yet there is still much to discover about their ecological impacts.

Prairie reconstructions are often done on highly disturbed sites such as reclaimed cropland, turf grass, and road rights-of-way. Disturbed soils often lack adequate quantities of both mycorrhizal fungi and micronutrients. I hypothesized that inoculated seeds with mycorrhizal spores or micronutrient seed treatments will aid in the early establishment of a tallgrass prairie.

To test this hypothesis four treatments (T1 control, T2 mycorrhizal, T3 micronutrient, and T4 mycorrhizal and micronutrient) were …

Analysis Of The Relationship Between Religion And Forgiveness, Desislava S. Stoycheva

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Forgiveness has been found important for human social functioning within and across cultures. Empirical findings from the last four decades pointed to the role of forgiveness in improving physical, mental, and spiritual health. As a result, forgiveness practices have been extended into the fields of counseling psychology, education, and peace-making. Other studies suggest that religious commitment increases a person’s likelihood to forgive and that practicing forgiveness mediates the effect of religion on health. Schema Theory was used to interpret religious background or lack of religion as factors shaping specific mental structures. These mental structures could lead to different forgiveness schemata, …

Eugene Macdonald Bonner Collection - Accession 743, Eugene Macdonald Bonner

Manuscript Collection

The Eugene MacDonald Bonner Collection is a good source for the study of the life and art of the North Carolina born composer, music critic, and author, Eugene MacDonald Bonner (1889-1983). It contains some letter by Bonner himself; plus others by his aunt, Mary Virginia Bonner; and his friends Leon Barzin, conductor and music director of the National Orchestral Association; Claudio D’Agata, a conductor who knew Bonner when he lived in Taormina, Italy; Alan Hartman, a friend who knew him in New York; and H.C. Haynsworth who met Bonner, several taped recordings of his music, a number of photographs and …

Energy Efficient Hybrid Routing Protocol Based On The Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm And Ant Colony Optimisation For Wsns, Xinlu Li, Brian Keegan, Fredrick Mtenzi

Articles

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are a particular type of distributed self-managed network with limited energy supply and communication ability. The most significant challenge of a routing protocol is the energy consumption and the extension of the network lifetime. Many energy-efficient routing algorithms were inspired by the development of Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO). However, due to the inborn defects, ACO-based routing algorithms have a slow convergence behaviour and are prone to premature, stagnation phenomenon, which hinders further route discovery, especially in a large-scale network. This paper proposes a hybrid routing algorithm by combining the Artificial Fish Swarm Algorithm (AFSA) and ACO …

Relating Group Size And Posting Activity Of An Online Community Of Financial Investors: Regularities And Seasonal Patterns, P. Racca, R. Casarin, Pierpaolo Dondio, F. Squazzoni

Articles

Group size can potentially affect collective activity and individual propensity to contribute to collective goods. Mancur Olson, in his Logic of Collective Action, argued that individual contribution to a collective good tends to be lower in groups of large size. Today, online communication platforms represent an interesting ground to study such collaborative dynamics under possibly different conditions (e.g., lower costs related to gather and share information). This paper examines the relationship between group size and activity in an online financial forum, where users invest time in sharing news, analysis and comments with other investors. We looked at about 24 million …

Examining The Effects Of A Virtual Character On Learning And Engagement In Serious Games, Vihanga Gamage, Cathy Ennis

Articles

Virtual characters have been employed for many purposes including interacting with players of serious games, with a purpose to increase engagement. These characters are often embodied conversational agents playing diverse roles, such as demonstrators, guides, teachers or interviewers. Recently, much research has been conducted into properties that affect the realism and plausibility of virtual characters, but it is less clear whether the inclusion of interactive agents in serious applications can enhance a user’s engagement with the application, or indeed increase efficacy. In a first step towards answering these questions, we conducted a study where a Virtual Learning Environment was used …

Adsorption Of Anionic And Cationic Dyes On Biochars, Produced By Hydrothermalcarbonization Of Waste Biomass: Effect Of Surface Functionalization And Ionicstrength, Ezgi̇ Çağlar, Yusuf Osman Donar, Ali̇ Sinağ, İbrahi̇m Bi̇roğul, Selva Bi̇lge, Kivanç Aydincak, Oleksii Pliekhov

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

In this work, surface-functionalization agents and various salts as auxiliaries were used to improve the adsorption capacity of biochars produced via hydrothermal carbonization of glucose, cellulose, and hazelnut shell. The effect of surface functionalization with different acids and bases as well as neutral salts on the adsorption of methylene blue and methyl orange was investigated using Boehm titration, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. Surface functionalization of biochars leads to an increase in the number of oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface, thus increasing the adsorption capacity. To probe the influence of ionic strength on the adsorption …

Transfer Of The Protonable Surfactant Dipalmitoyl-Phosphatidylcholine Across A Large Liquid/Liquid Interface: A Voltammetric Study, İbrahi̇m Uyanik

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

Adsorption behavior of the zwitterionic phospholipid dipalmitoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) at the polarizable liquid/liquid interface formed between water and 1,2-dichloroethane electrolyte solutions is studied taking into account both the pH of the aqueous phase and the concentration of the phospholipid in the organic phase by cyclic voltammetry. Experimental results showed that the adsorption of the phospholipid strongly depends on the pH of the aqueous phase, which determines the surface ionization of the polar head of the phospholipid molecule and hence the stability of the adsorbed layer of phospholipids.

Synthesis And Biological Properties Of Novel1-Methyl-2-(2-(Prop-2-Yn-1-Yloxy)Benzylidene) Hydrazine Analogues, Ari̇f Kivrak, Can Yilmaz, Meti̇n Konuş, Hali̇l Koca, Selahatti̇n Aydemi̇r, Jeger Ali Oagaz

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

1-Methyl-2-(2-(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)benzylidene)hydrazine analogues were readily prepared in good yields by the reaction of 2-(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)benzaldehydes and methyl hydrazine. The reaction tolerates a variety of substituents on the 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde to form nitro-, halo-, methoxy-, and naphthyl-substituted 1-methyl-2-(2-(prop-2-yn-1-yloxy)benzylidene)hydrazines. The in vitro antioxidant capacity measurements revealed that among all the analyzed hydrazine analogues that surpassed the Trolox standard, 1-(2-(but-3-ynyl)-5-nitrobenzylidene)-2-methylhydrazine had the maximum value, which was approximately 1.7 times that of Trolox.