The role of submersed macrophytes in river eutrophication and biogeochemical nutrient cycling

The goal of this work is to contribute to the understanding eutrophication in large rivers with a detailed study of the Grand River, an impacted river in highly agricultural and urbanized Southern Ontario. It focuses on the role of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the distribution and abundance of benthic submersed macrophytes, which are important actors in river N and P cycles. Chapter 1 uses data from the Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network to examine seasonal, long term and spatial patterns in total P (TP), soluble reactive P (SRP), nitrate and nitrite (NO3- + NO2-) and ammonium (NH4+). The monitoring of many sites in the Grand River began in 1965, and I examine data from the period from 1965 to 2009. The monitoring program began prior to the Canada-USA ban on the use of phosphate in detergents, which came into effect in 1973, and also before major improvements to municipal waste water treatment. The phosphate ban is analyzed as an example of a whole-system nutrient manipulation experiment, and the seasonal and long term response of the river system, from headwaters to mouth, is examined. TP and SRP declined over the monitoring period, with the greatest response found in TP, which declined by 120 µg/l/y immediately downstream of the of the watershed’s largest treatment plant in the years 1972-1975. Thereafter, TP and SRP continued to decline over most of the lower river, with rates of decline in nutrient concentration accelerating with distance from the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). NO3+NO2 increased during the monitoring period in the upper portion of the river with the highest increase of 158 µg-N/l/y observed in the 10 year period of 1975-1985. It did not change in response to WWTP upgrades that occurred in the early 1970s. WWTPs were a clear source of TP, SRP and NH4+ to the river system, but not NO3 +NO2 , and the continual increase in NO3 +NO2 was due to increases in diffuse sources. The seasonal and spatial data suggest that non-point sources of N and P dominate in the Grand River watershed. However, the largest WWTP in the region at Kitchener is an important source of nutrients, and was an especially large source of P prior to changes in detergent standards and wastewater treatment. The submersed macrophyte biomass in the Grand River was examined as a function of proximity to WWTPs in chapter 2. Spatial surveys were conducted in 2007 and 2009 on three reaches of approximately 10 km in length each, with two reaches having an upstream and downstream section, separated by a WWTP. Macrophyte patches were mapped, biomass was estimated, and plants were analyzed for N and P. Tissue N and P were compared to published thresholds for evidence of nutrient limitation. Biomass was greater downstream of the WWTPs than upstream in both reaches and both years, indicating that nutrient loading leads to increased biomass downstream, evidence that even in a heavily agricultural watershed, point sources have a demonstrable effect on macrophyte biomass. Depth was important in explaining some of the variation, while river width and orientation were not important. Even though macrophyte biomass was elevated downstream of the WWTPs, there was no strong evidence of N or P limitation upstream based on tissue concentrations and a laboratory determined critical nutrient threshold, and I hypothesize that the nutrient limitation affecting biomass occurs earlier in the growing season, before peak biomass. This suggests that the eutrophication process in rivers is distinct from that in lakes, and future work should view eutrophication in rivers in the context of seasonal succession. Drivers of seasonal and inter-annual variability in submersed macrophyte biomass were examined in chapter 3 with a multi-year, reach-scale spatial survey of three reaches near the WWTPs of Waterloo and Kitchener. Biomass differed among reaches, years and sites, and showed distinct seasonal patterns. The reach downstream of the WWTPs had the highest biomass, and peak biomass came soonest in the growing season, while the upstream reach had the smallest and latest peak biomass. Weather was significantly correlated to both the quantity and the time of the peak biomass, with higher temperatures associated with larger and earlier peak biomass and precipitation and higher flow associated with later and lower peak biomass. Therefore, the eutrophication response in rivers can depend on weather, and these drivers of variation should be accounted for when forecasting responses to future changes in nutrient loading. The effect of nitrogen discharged by WWTPs on the riverine submersed macrophyte community, and the suitability of macrophyte tissues as indicators of point source impact, were quantified in chapter 4 using δ15N as a tracer of WWTP effluent impact. Macrophytes and water for NO3- and NH4+ concentration and isotope analysis was collected by canoe along two 10 km reaches of the river, up and downstream of two WWTPs. Macrophytes incorporated effluent nitrogen into their tissues downstream of the WWTPs, using effluent NH4+ rather than NO3-. Impacts of the effluent on macrophytes can be traced as far as 10 km downstream, while daytime chemical evidence of the plume disappeared much sooner. The δ15N-NH4+ value rapidly increased downstream of the WWTP, changing in one instance from +13‰ to +31‰ over 1 km, with macrophyte δ15N values changing from +6‰ to +24‰ over 5 km, while δ15N- NO3- values showed no such change. These data lead to the conclusion that riverine submersed macrophytes record the influence of WWTP effluent, specifically effluent NH4+, but that using two end-member mixing models to determine N sources would be inappropriate in such dynamic environments. Nitrogen cycle processes such as nitrification and denitrification are influenced by dissolved oxygen (DO) and rapid transformations occur in environments with strong DO gradients. Because development of dense macrophyte beds in eutrophic rivers has the potential to greatly alter daily oxygen cycling, producing strong redox potentials, macrophytes could influence microbial nitrogen cycling. In Chapter 5, nitrogen uptake by macrophytes using a 15N-NH4+ tracer and N2O production was investigated using in situ chamber incubations upstream and downstream of a WWTP. NH4+ uptake occurred in chambers, while measurable net N2O production occurred in some chambers only. Neither N2O production nor NH4+ uptake differed between chambers with and without PO43- addition, nor did they differ between light and dark treatments. NH4+ uptake was higher at the upstream site, indicating that above the WWTP there was NH4+ demand in the macrophyte community. NH4+ uptake was a hyperbolic function of mean chamber NH4+ concentration. Turnover time for the macrophyte N pool due to NH4+ uptake was as long as 47 d, while the turnover of the dissolved NH4+ pool was as rapid as 14 h. Because net uptake was a small fraction of gross uptake, calculated release rates were almost as high as uptake rates, again indicating rapid NH4+ cycling. Eutrophication of rivers has elements that make it a process distinct from that in lakes. I showed that, in the Grand River, N and P were both high in concentration throughout the river, with a distinct increase downstream of the largest WWTPs in the watershed. The biomass of benthic submersed macrophytes was elevated below the WWTPs, but there was no evidence of nutrient limitation upstream during the time of peak biomass. Macrophyte biomass development followed a seasonal pattern, but was also influenced by seasonal temperature and precipitation patterns. Thus, the riverine eutrophication process has an important seasonal component, much as the plants themselves do, peaking in the summer and senescing in the fall. As part of the eutrophication response, macrophytes altered the chemical cycles of nutrients that fuel their growth. Though changes in benthic biomass themselves are part of riverine eutrophication, this thesis provides evidence that changes in macrophyte biomass produces chemical and ecological changes that are characteristic of increased trophic conditions

Women’s Sense of Belonging in Computer Science Education:The Need for a Collective Response

The gender imbalance in Computing education continues to be concerning, with women hugely underrepresented in the field. Prior research on improving gender equality in the discipline discusses the need to improve women's sense of belonging. However, this has seldom included women's understanding of what a sense of belonging is for them - nor have solutions for fostering belonging been co-created with women. In this paper, we report on the findings of four innovative focus groups with thirteen women, students and staff, in a university Computer Science department - uncovering their experiences of belonging and their proposed solutions to improving it. Through these focus groups, we present the experiences impacting our participants' sense of belonging, alongside our participants' solutions for fostering belonging within Computing. From this, we discuss the need for a collective response to fostering a sense of belonging in Computer Science, specifically through having a collective understanding of the barriers to a sense of belonging, applying a collective of solutions to foster belonging, and taking collective responsibility for improving equality

Evidence for an anomalous like-sign dimuon charge asymmetry

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.82.032001

Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson in Tau Final States

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.251801.We present a search for the standard model Higgs boson using hadronically decaying tau leptons, in 1  fb(−1) of data collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron pp-bar collider. We select two final states: τ± plus missing transverse energy and b jets, and τ(+)τ(−) plus jets. These final states are sensitive to a combination of associated W/Z boson plus Higgs boson, vector boson fusion, and gluon-gluon fusion production processes. The observed ratio of the combined limit on the Higgs production cross section at the 95% C.L. to the standard model expectation is 29 for a Higgs boson mass of 115 GeV

Search for Dark Photons from Supersymmetric Hidden Valleys

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.081802.We search for a new light gauge boson, a dark photon, with the D0 experiment. In the model we consider, supersymmetric partners are pair produced and cascade to the lightest neutralinos that can decay into the hidden sector state plus either a photon or a dark photon. The dark photon decays through its mixing with a photon into fermion pairs. We therefore investigate a previously unexplored final state that contains a photon, two spatially close leptons, and large missing transverse energy. We do not observe any evidence for dark photons and set a limit on their production

Cohort Profile: The Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA)

In response to the expressed need for more sophisticated and multidisciplinary data concerning ageing of the Australian population, the Australian Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ALSA) was established some two decades ago in Adelaide, South Australia. At Baseline in 1992, 2087 participants living in the community or in residential care (ranging in age from 65 to 103 years) were interviewed in their place of residence (1031 or 49% women), including 565 couples. By 2013, 12 Waves had been completed; both face-to-face and telephone personal interviews were conducted. Data collected included self-reports of demographic details, health, depression, morbid conditions, hospitalization, gross mobility, physical performance, activities of daily living, lifestyle activities, social resources, exercise, education and income. Objective performance data for physical and cognitive function were also collected. The ALSA data are held at the Flinders Centre for Ageing Studies, Flinders University. Procedures for data access, information on collaborations, publications and other details can be found at [http://flinders.edu.au/sabs/fcas/].Australian Research Council ARC (DP0879152 and 130100428; LP669272 and 100200413

Characteristics of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency related lung disease exacerbations using a daily symptom diary and urinary biomarkers

Background: Pulmonary exacerbations in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) related lung disease are a significant contributor to disease burden, as with usual COPD. Separating the early stages of an exacerbation from the day-to-day variation in stable COPD is central to the concerns of both clinicians and patients and has been identified as a research priority by NIHR.Clinical tools that distinguish baseline symptoms from those of an exacerbation could allow early and appropriate treatment of AECOPD to reduce the impact and potentially may slow disease progression thereby improving survival and quality of life. Candidate tools include symptom diaries and biomarkers of infection and acute inflammation. Urinary biomarkers of AECOPD have yet to be explored in AATD related COPD. Methods: 55 patients with AATD related lung disease with a history of 2 or more AECOPD in the preceding year were prospectively followed for 18 months. Each patient recorded symptom scores daily via an electronic symptom diary (eDiary) based on Bronkotest. Urinary biomarkers for AAT, NE, CRP, TIMP1 and desmosine were measured weekly using a home urinary lateral flow device. During self-reported AECOPD patients were asked to perform urine analysis on the first 7 consecutive days.Results: Type I Anthonisen exacerbations and episodes occurring in autumn/winter lasted longer than Type II/III exacerbations and spring/summer episodes respectively. Median urinary CRP concentration across all study participants increased during Type I AECOPD. eDiary adherence was 68% over a median of 17.8 months (IQR 15.7 to 18.5).Conclusions: Use of an eDiary and urinary biomarkers to detect and characterise AECOPD remotely in AATD related lung disease is feasible over a prolonged period and paves the way for precision detection of exacerbations. <br/

Development and psychometric testing of the clinical leadership needs analysis (CLeeNA) instrument for nurses and midwives

Aim: The aim of this study is to report the development and psychometric testing of the clinical leadership needs analysis instrument (CLeeNA). Background: Limited emphasis is placed on the clinical leadership needs of nurses and midwives that are fundamental to supporting the delivery of high quality, safe patient care. Methods: A development and validation study of CLeeNA was undertaken using cross-sectional data. A sample of 324 registered nurses and midwives completed the questionnaire using a 7-point adjectival scale. Principal component analysis was conducted to explore scale grouping of items (n = 103 items). Results: Principal component analysis, item reduction and parallel analysis on the items of the instrument resulted in seven factors consisting of 56 items. These factors were identified as: Staff and Care Delivery; Technology and Care Initiatives; Self and Team Development; Standards of Care; Financial and Service Management; Leadership and Clinical Practice; Patient Safety and Risk Management. Conclusion: The identified factors are reflective of an ever-changing health care environment. Implications for Nursing Management: Potentially, after further testing, this instrument could be used by nursing management and educators to measure clinical leadership needs, inform the design of clinical leadership training programmes and provide valuable information about health care leadership development