Digital Commons Network^™

Developing A Method To Identify Tyre Particles By Detecting Benzothiazole Via Gc-Ms, Emma Paull

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Tyre particles are a dominant source of microplastic pollution in our environment. However, their chemical and physical properties are poorly understood and no standardised methods for identifying and quantifying them exist. This study looked to develop a method to identify tyre particles using two tyre samples of differing particle sizes, fine (62 - 125 µm) and coarse (250 – 500 µm). Both samples underwent ultrasound-assisted extraction before being analysed via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in both full scan and SIM mode, using benzothiazole as a marker. Both samples were also analysed via particle size analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and …

An Investigation Into The Current Knowledge And Consumption Frequencies Of Probiotic Products Amongst Uk-Based Athletes, Ella J. Myers

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Growing evidence supports the role of probiotics as modulators of the gut microbiome and subsequent beneficial effects on health, adaptations to exercise, and performance amongst athletes. Despite this, limited literature exists concerning athletes’ current understanding or consumption habits of such products. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the knowledge and consumption frequencies of probiotic products amongst UK-based recreational and competitive athletes using a three-part online questionnaire. A scoring system based on the number of correct responses to questions regarding probiotics was employed to assess athlete knowledge. Subsequent questions allowed for the collection of data regarding respondents’ current consumption habits …

The Impact Of Artificial Light At Night On The Distribution Of Sea Turtles In The Mediterranean, Molly R. Blyth

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Artificial light at night (ALAN) poses a significant threat to a wide array of species across the world. In coastal areas, artificial lighting is known to disrupt sea-finding behaviour of sea turtle hatchlings and to deter females from nesting beaches. Yet, sea turtles spend the majority of their lifetimes in the sea, where the influence of ALAN on sea turtle distribution has not previously been studied. Using a recently published atlas of ALAN under the sea, this study analysed an online dataset of sea turtle sightings throughout the Mediterranean Sea, to look for a relationship using a binomial generalised linear …

The Weight Of Words: An Investigation On The Impact Of Stereotypical Body Language On Body Dissatisfaction, Hannah M. Brown

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Body image research is extensive, producing various tools to assess body dissatisfaction and related factors. Despite this, eating disorder rates remain high. This study investigates the relationship between self-schemas, the lexical frameworks of body-related words, and their impact on body shape dissatisfaction. Sociocultural pressures to conform to beauty standards make body image talk ubiquitous and influential. Previous studies primarily used explicit measures, like self-reports, which are subject to biases, whereas implicit measures reveal underlying cognitive mechanisms. This study employed the Stunkard Figure Scale to measure body dissatisfaction and the Body Appreciation Scale 2 to assess body appreciation, examining cognitive biases …

Measurement Of The Mechanical Properties Of Blood Vessels Using A Vascular Simulation Rig, Jack Lockyer

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Understanding the mechanical properties of blood vessels is crucial for reconstructive surgeons who connect donor tissue flaps to recipient sites. This paper describes the development of a vascular simulation test rig that delivers pulsatile flow to a blood vessel sample while continuously monitoring system pressure and sample diameter. These measurements allow for the calculation of the viscous coefficient, an important mechanical property for comparing blood vessels. A pilot test using the rig demonstrates its ability to measure pressure and diameter and highlights necessary improvements to enhance data quality. The pilot test shows that the current rig can measure 5 mm …

Rooting For Resilience: Investigating The Success Of Seagrass Restoration Methods, Olivia K. Stockdale

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Seagrasses generate vital ecosystem services to coastal communities, whilst also protecting marine biodiversity. Despite their significance, seagrass ecosystems face a plethora of threats from both anthropogenic and natural sources, causing a 20 % loss of seagrass area over the last century. To combat this, numerous restoration methods exist for seagrass habitats globally, with varying degrees of success. Through a comprehensive systematic review and subsequent meta-analysis, this study illustrates the varying success rates of different transplant and seed-based restoration methods over differing timescales. Accounting for varying timescales, results showed that restoration method had a significant effect on success rate (χ^{2 …}

Synthesis And Characterisation Of An Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitor, Elijah Rahman-Riding

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors are currently the only effective treatment for people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects 50 million people worldwide at present but is expected to rise dramatically over the next 30 years. The aim of this research was to synthesise an AChE inhibitor derivative of tacrine, 4-chloro-2(((1,2,3,4-tetrahydroacridin-9yl)imino)methyl)phenol (chlorophenol tacrine). This was achieved by first synthesising tacrine, evidencing successful synthesis and assaying purity of the product, then, synthesising a simple derivative, acetyl tacrine, before chlorophenol tacrine. At every stage of the investigation comprehensive structural analysis of each product was obtained using FT-IR, CHN analysis, GC-FID, …

Investigation Of The Use Of Nanotechnology In Food Packaging, Ollie-May Woodland

The Plymouth Student Scientist

This review discusses topics related to the use and development of nanotechnology and nanomaterials in food packaging applications. The accelerated use of these technologies brings about relevant safety, environmental, ethical and legislative/ regulatory concerns and as such the aim of this work is to assess the viability of the use of current commercialised nano-enabled packaging and to evaluate the potential future trends in the progression of these technologies against public opinion and potential risk(s). The data for this report was collected through comprehensive research of nanotechnology and its applications, specifically the packaging industry in the food sector. An online survey …

Influence Of Patch Characteristics On Pollinator Behavior And Seed Production In Centaurea Stoebe, Abigail Hiltke

Theses - ALL

Discontinuous, or patchy, landscapes may affect pollinator foraging behaviors and could potentially lower the fitness of isolated plant communities by limiting and/or altering pollination services. I tested this idea by examining changes in pollinator behavior in patches of spotted knapweed of different size, flower density, and distance from one another. Based on predictions from optimal foraging theory, I identified and measured key pollination promoting behaviors that may change when foragers are exposed to discontinuous landscape. These behaviors were pollinator visitation rates to patches, the number of visits to individual flowers within patches, and the handling time per flower. These factors …

Real-Time Control (Rtc)-Based Urban Flood Risk Assessment Framework For Arid And Semi-Arid Regions, Sulaiman Altami

Dissertations - ALL

Global climate change has recently increased Flood Risk (FR) disasters in arid and semi-arid regions, particularly in Gulf countries, such as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Arid regions generally face low rain on average during a year, but flash floods occur during rainfall of longer return periods due to urbanization and climate change. Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) outcomes enable municipalities (planners and decision-makers) in arid urban areas to develop flood management strategies and mitigate the issues of drainage systems, which may otherwise affect the quality of life. FRA is an effective tool for not only identifying high-risk areas but …

The Ghostly Angel In The Haunted Home: The Haunted House As A Metaphor For A Woman's Body In Crimson Peak, Andrea I. Amado-Fajardo

Theses and Dissertations

Crimson Peak (2015, dir. Guillermo del Toro), often overshadowed by del Toro's more critically acclaimed filmography, deserves to be acknowledged for its central trauma metaphor and its nuanced approach to gender. Far from being merely a horror movie fueled by disturbing sequences such as those found in contemporary supernatural horror films, Crimson Peak slowly unravels how Allerdale Hall parallels the film's female leads as they house and live with ghosts, revenants of a traumatic past. This essay explores the personification of the haunted house as a metaphor for the personified trauma that resides in a woman's body using Crimson Peak …

Toward A Broader Theocentric Environmentalism, Melvin L. Otey

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Journal Staff

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Altruistic Arbitrage And Climate Change Mitigation:Rethinking The Role Of Cap And Trade Policies, Fatjon Kaja, Matthew G. Nagler

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

We examine the implications for efficient public goods provision by exploring the relationship of altruism to the endowment effect, focusing our analysis on the problem of climate change mitigation. We argue that the reduction in distortionary valuation (i.e., willingness-to-accept departing from willingness-to-pay) experienced by altruistic market participants implies an ability to mediate ignored trades and extract the gains from trade — an activity we call "altruistic arbitrage" — thereby improving the efficiency of markets. This activity, broadly speaking, restores the Coase Theorem in the context of WTA-WTP disparities. Moreover, it leads to previously unidentified benefits to when markets are employed …

On The Brink: Red Wolves On The Albemarle Peninsula, Jessica Hardee

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Addressing The Access To Justice Crisis: Think Systemically, Act Locally, Nikole Nelson

Alaska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Community Justice Workers: Part Of The Solution To Alaska's Legal Deserts, Joy Anderson, Sarah Carver, Dr. Robert Onders

Alaska Law Review

Legal deserts—large geographic areas where there are few or no attorneys—are found throughout the United States, including Alaska. These deserts are a major contributor to the access to justice gap. Further compounding the scarcity of legal resources in these areas, many people living in legal deserts cannot afford legal help, even when a lawyer is available. Legal aid organizations have struggled to overcome these challenges in meeting the legal needs of low-income Americans and are often forced to turn away as many people as they are able to help. Alaska Legal Services Corporation (ALSC) is responding to this challenge in …

Note From The Editor

Alaska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Justice Beyond The State, Kirsten Matoy Carlson

Alaska Law Review

For decades the intersectionality of extreme rurality and cultural difference has led scholars and tribal leaders to advocate for recognition of local authority as a solution to the justice gap in rural Alaska. Local control often means developing courts in and extending jurisdiction to Alaska Native villages. This Article evaluates strengthening tribal courts or justice systems through restorations of jurisdiction as a way to address access to justice issues in Alaska Native villages. It argues that restorations of jurisdiction and the development of tribal justice systems must ensure that Alaska Natives define the justice provided in their communities. Restorations of …

Next Steps In Online Courts: Accelerating Access Tojustice Through Court Technology, J.J. Prescott

Alaska Law Review

For more than a decade, state courts have been expanding access to justice by adopting online dispute resolution (ODR) platforms and other outward-facing communication technologies. At a deep level, these reforms aim at improving society by bolstering the rule of law. At a surface level, these innovations recognize that the justice system works better when courts and law are easier and less costly to understand and use. In important respects, these efforts have been a success. The accessibility of many state courts is considerably more robust today than it was ten years ago, at least for small-stakes cases, like traffic …

Alaska's Healthcare Markets: The Free Market Is Nota "Cure", Katie Raya

Alaska Law Review

Healthcare reform in the United States requires a nuanced approach to improve quality and access while managing costs—a challenge particularly pronounced in Alaska. Despite being the highest spender on healthcare globally, the U.S. fails to deliver commensurate health outcomes, with Alaska exemplifying these systemic issues. The state faces the highest healthcare costs in the nation yet performs poorly in quality and access metrics. This situation has prompted urgent legislative scrutiny of existing policies, such as the Certificate of Need (CON) Law and the 80th Percentile Rule. This Note critically evaluates the argument that deregulating Alaska's healthcare market will lead to …

Alaska's Arm-Of-The-Tribe Jurisprudence: Ito V. Copper River Native Association And Its Contribution To A More Uniform System Of Justice In America, Jack Jeffrey, Erik Gordon

Alaska Law Review

The Alaska Supreme Court recently overhauled its approach to arm-of-the-tribe sovereign immunity in Ito v. Copper River Native Association. The Court no longer utilizes financial insularity as a dispositive inquiry; instead, the Court has adopted a five-factor test that takes into account (1) the purpose of the entity’s creation, (2) the method of the entity's creation, (3) the degree of control the tribe maintains over the entity, (4) tribal intent concerning sharing sovereign immunity, and (5) financial relationship. This decision serves as a positive development for two reasons: (1) it is a step towards the elimination of a dual-track …

Glacial Progress: Thawing The Path To A Law School In Alaska, Kathrine Coonjohn

Alaska Law Review

My contribution to this symposium is clear: to advocate for the establishment of an Alaskan law school. As the only state in the nation without one Alaska keenly suffers the repercussions of this absence. The resulting void creates shortages of legal professionals, reduces opportunities for continuing legal education, cultural and community disconnection, and contributes to brain drain. Further, it undermines the state's legal infrastructure and limits access to justice. Despite significant logistical and financial hurdles, including the high costs of establishment and sustainability concerns, the need for a local legal institution is undeniable, and this need will only grow more …

When Politics No Longer Stops At The Water’S Edge: Exploring The Effects Of Asymmetric Partisan Polarization On The United States Senate’S Treaty Approval Process, Whitney Baillie-Berring

Dissertations - ALL

The American treaty ratification process is deeply flawed. The Constitutional rules for treaty ratification, specifically that treaties are reviewed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee prior to voting on the Senate floor and that positive advice and consent requires a 2/3 majority in the Senate, leaves the process rife with opportunities for veto players to prevent treaties from moving through the process. Because treaties are the primary means of codifying international cooperation, the inability to pass treaties has dire consequences for the United States. Recently, the U.S. has increasingly failed to consent to treaty ratification, either through formal rejection or …

The Evolution Of The University Of Al-Anbar Urban Planning Based On The Mental Picture's Diversity And The Contemporary Planning Spaces Filling, Ali Abdulsamea Hameed

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

This research concentrated on the role of environmental graphic design (EGD) and the place-making idea in the interior environment of Al-Anbar University. To develop an identity being visual for the University of Al-Anbar internal environment (IE) is this goal of project. The search sought to create and enhance the shape of the internal University of Al-Anbar vacuum by reviving the idea of place building. In order to build and filling the internal emptiness of the campus, the identity being visual must also be strengthened. The descriptive analytical approach was chosen since it was best suited to achieve the goal of …

Population Dynamics In Myxococcus Xanthus Developmental Biofilm, Trosporsha Tasnim Khan

Dissertations - ALL

Myxococcus xanthus, a soil-dwelling bacterium, exhibits complex multicellular behaviors through self-organization into biofilms. M. xanthus cells traverse agar surfaces, forming either predatory biofilm or vegetative swarm that expands outward in the presence of nutrients. Upon nutrient depletion, the swarm reorganizes as cells “stream” inward, coalescing into aggregates that mature into spore-filled fruiting bodies. This starvation-induced biofilm development is a complex process, governed by stringent genetic controls and coordinated population interactions. Despite extensive research into the dynamics of this development, from the onset of starvation to fruiting body maturation, a comprehensive understanding is still missing. This dissertation sheds light on the …

Student Understanding Of Trigonometric Functions: Exploring Understanding Through The Use Of Contextual Tasks, Julia Hatt

Dissertations - ALL

Researchers in mathematics education have studied many facets of teaching and learning mathematical functions, however, research focusing on trigonometric functions is sparse. Mathematics education researchers have also studied the importance of and impact of mathematical tasks for learning. For example, the framework of Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) emphasizes learning mathematics situated in reality and using rich contexts that provide learners with opportunities to reinvent mathematics in a way that is meaningful to them. Despite this valuable research, there exist gaps between the findings from these studies and their enactment in classrooms. As such, this qualitative study sought to extend frameworks …

Optimizing Wind Wing Wall Ventilation In High-Rise Buildings Within Dense Urban Hot And Humid Climate., Arushi Bhatia

Theses

This study investigates how wing walls can increase natural ventilation in high-rise structures, particularly in hot, humid locations such as Mumbai, India. Using wind flow simulations and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling, the study investigates how wind direction and the installation of wing walls affect airflow throughout the building. The study examines four scenarios, each analyzing how airflow varies when a building is located near surrounding structures of differing heights. It uses comprehensive CFD simulations to assess how alternative wing wall depth design can affect ventilation, as well as how wall-to-window ratio variation can contribute to airflows. Following these simulations, …

Implementing The Morisky Medication Adherence Scale To Improve Medication Adherence In Patients With Hiv And Mental Illness, Kyle Ransom

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Project Abstract

PURPOSE The purpose of this scholarly project was to implement a standardized process for assessing patient medication adherence through the use of a high-quality self-report questionnaire.

BACKGROUND The project was implemented at a federally funded outpatient HIV specialty clinic.

METHODOLOGY Patients seen by the clinic’s psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioners completed the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale during the nurse triage encounter. Patients who scored poorly (below 6) were then referred to the clinic’s interprofessional team (e.g., social workers and pharmacists) to address barriers to medication adherence. Medication adherence was measured using data collected from the on-site pharmacy records in order to …

“Others, Please Specify”: The Lived Experiences Of Non-Catholic Senior High School Students Studying In A Catholic School, Awani Obhoo, Jadon Reilly G. Garde, Rishae Aeiouffee B. Alcaraz, Andrea Charlize D. Barte, Teresa M. Camarines

Sinaya: A Philippine Journal for Senior High School Teachers and Students

“Others, please specify” is a common option in demographic questions, like when asking respondents’ religious affiliation, that provides them “a text box to self-identify.” This study focused on the said context as it indicated the minority status of non-Catholic students in a predominantly Catholic school and underscored the distinct lived experiences of these students. The relatively small representation of non-Catholic senior high school students studying in Catholic schools piqued curiosity and prompted the need for a deeper examination of their lived experiences. This study aspired to contribute to the development of religious studies in the Philippines, particularly for non-Catholic students …