A new species of Cronisia Berkeley (Corsiniaceae) from Mexico

A new species of Cronisia with sessile dorsal female involucres is described from Mexico. This plant, C. mexicana, is compared to C. paradoxa and to other species with similarly placed female involucres

Otolith chemistry, stomach contents and stable isotope analysis of a snapper (Pagrus auratus) caught in the Waikato River at Ngaruawahia

Analyses of stomach contents, stable isotopes and otolith microchemistry were carried out in order to ascertain the length of freshwater residence of a snapper (Pagrus auratus) caught in the Waikato River at Ngaruawahia in a net set for grey mullet(Mugil cephalus). Results of all analyses suggest that the snapper had spent all of its life in a marine environment with no evidence of freshwater residence in the otolith. Stable isotope analyses (δ15N = 17.0‰, δ13C = –17.1‰) indicated an entirely marine diet, and the stomach contents (two New Zealand screwshells, Maoricolpus roseus, and a hermit crab, Pagurus novizelandiae), suggested that the fish had not fed while in freshwater. However, this does not preclude the possibility that the snapper quickly travelled up the river, without eating, and was caught very soon after

Assessing movement of rainbow trout and common smelt between Lake Rotoiti and Lake Rotorua using otolith chemical signatures: A summary of work so far

This study used otolith microchemistry to investigate movement of common smelt and rainbow trout between Lake Rotorua and Lake Rotoiti. Rainbow trout were collected from Lake Rotoiti, Lake Rotorua and the Ohau Channel, and smelt were collected from several locations in Lake Rotoiti and Lake Rotorua

Towards diamond transistors for the future smart grid

Diamond is the ultimate material for power electronics, with unparalleled thermal conductivity, charge carrier mobility and dielectric strength. Diamond transistors have the potential to outperform all other competing materials, predominantly silicon and silicon carbide, and provide the crucial efficiency improvements needed for the development of the future smart grid. The Horizon 2020 GreenDiamond project aims to develop the technology to build the world’s first high power diamond transistor. Within the ambitious framework of the GreenDiamond project, this work developed a surface smoothing ICP RIE Ar/O2/CF4 treatment to remove polishing induced sub-surface damage. This process produced surface roughness reduction up to 44%. An iterative and non-destructive X-ray diffraction characterisation pro- cess confirmed the effectiveness of the treatment, reducing polishing damage after a 6 μm etch and offering a potentially practical means of characterising substrates prior to epitaxial growth. The effects of the parameters of an Ar/O2 ICP RIE etch were also studied to build an effective toolkit for controlled and tailored diamond patterning. The pro- portion of oxygen in the plasma was shown to be a crucial parameter with regards to micromasking and etched surface quality. A cyclic Ar/Cl2 ICP RIE ’cleaning’ step was added to successfully achieve deep etching beyond 10 μm with near zero micromasking. Resist characteristics and undercut emerged as a potential method to control mesa wall angle. The fabrication of diamond devices can hence be con- trolled and adapted to a range of different applications, including electronics and biotechnology. Finally, MESFETs with a low boron-doped channel were produced with a top- down and bottom-up fabrication approach for the highly boron-doped Ohmic con- tact. Devices presenting current modulation and turn-off were fabricated with the bottom-up method, presenting maximum drain current up to -0.5 mA/mm, larger than values reported in the literature for diamond transistors. With these prototype devices, high performing diamond transistors are one step closer

Preparing To Parent: Mindfulness In Expectant Parents Exposed To Adversity

Expectant parents who have been exposed to psychosocial risk encounter deleterious psychological (Ashley et al., 2016), and physiological (V. H. Pereira, Campos, & Sousa, 2017) effects. This not only affects the parent-to-be, but also may affect the developing fetus (E. P. Davis et al., 2011) and is linked to poorer infant development (Lefmann & Combs-Orme, 2014). However, not all risk-exposed individuals experience this, many are resilient and still thrive in the face of adversity. Understanding potential risk and resiliency factors in expectant parents is advantageous, so tailored interventions can be devised to improve outcomes. One potential resiliency factor, mindfulness, is finding its way into a variety of contexts, however little research has been explored in a sample of diverse, expectant parents who are exposed to risk. In response, this three-paper dissertation examined dispositional mindfulness in women and men expecting a baby (N=102). First, the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and depressive symptoms, considering the potential confounding effect of trauma symptoms was explored. Next, mindfulness and trauma were investigated as predictors of potential risk for child abuse. Finally, physiological stress (vagal tone) response to a parenting stressor was studied in low and high resiliency groups. Findings illustrate a significant relationship, in the expected direction, between total dispositional mindfulness and depressive symptoms as well as potential risk for child abuse. Total dispositional mindfulness and the subscale of non-reactivity predicted depressive symptoms and higher potential risk of child abuse. Trauma symptoms were also predictive of both depressive symptoms and risk of child abuse. Low and high resiliency groups approached significance (p=.06) in differing stress recovery (high frequency heart rate variability) from the common parenting stress of soothing a crying baby. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed

Diet of rainbow trout in Lake Rotoiti: an energetic perspective

We characterised seasonal and ontogenetic changes in diet and prey energy density of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in Lake Rotoiti, New Zealand, to better understand the prey requirements of trout in central North Island lakes. Common smelt (Retropinna retropinna) was the dominant prey item of rainbow trout larger than 200 mm (77.8% of diet by weight), followed by kōura (freshwater crayfish Paranephrops planifrons; 6.3%), common bully (Gobiomorphus cotidianus; 5.5%), and kōaro (Galaxias brevipinnis; 3.4%). Juvenile rainbow trout (<200 mm) consumed amphipods, aquatic and terrestrial insects, oligochaetes, tanaid shrimps, and smelt. Trout consumed kōaro only in autumn and winter; consumption of other species did not vary seasonally. The maximum size of smelt consumed increased with increasing trout size, but trout continued to consume small smelt even as large adults. Consumption of larger prey items (kōaro and kōura) also increased with increasing trout size. This study indicates the importance of smelt for sustaining rainbow trout populations, as predation on other species was relatively low. These findings provide a basis for bioenergetic modelling of rainbow trout populations in lakes of the central North Island of New Zealand

The influence of sex, patella tendon properties and the oral contraceptive pill on markers of exercise-induced muscle damage.

Introduction: Exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) is an accepted consequence of eccentric exercise. Sex differences in EIMD are attributed to tendon properties, fascicle lengthening and direct hormonal influences, however these remain unreported in vivo. Furthermore, the classical definition of eccentric contractions omits the role of the elastic tendon in determining eccentric fascicle lengthening and subsequent EIMD. Aim: The overall aims of the current thesis were, to investigate the role of the patella tendon during eccentric contractions, to investigate whether muscle and tendon properties are determinants of EIMD and investigate group differences (sex and oral contraceptive (OCP)use) in EIMD. Materials and method: In brief, vastus lateralis (VL) and patella tendon properties were measured in males, females and female OCP users, using a combination of ultrasonography, electromyography and dynamometry. During maximal voluntary eccentric knee extensions ((MVEKE) 12 reps × 6 sets), VL fascicle lengthening and MVEKE torque was recorded every 10 of knee joint angle (20 - 90). Maximal isometric voluntary knee extensor (MVCKE) torque loss, creatine kinase (CK) and muscle soreness were measured pre, post, 48, 96 and 168 hours post damage as markers of EIMD. Main findings: Patella tendon properties appear to act as a mechanical buffer on VL fascicle lengthening during MVEKE in vivo. Furthermore, due to significantly higher patella tendon stiffness, VL fascicle lengthening was significantly greater in males compared to females. Despite evidencing an attenuating role of the patella tendon on VL fascicle lengthening, patella tendon properties did not correlate with any indirect markers of EIMD, nor did they explain group differences in EIMD. Furthermore, MVEKE torque, MVEKE torque made relative to estimated total quadriceps anatomical cross-sectional area and VL fascicle lengthening did not correlate with any functional indirect marker of EIMD, nor did they explain group differences in EIMD. Within the current thesis CK was the only indirect marker of EIMD to be significantly different between the groups (males > females < OCP users). Creatine kinase was consistently lower in the groups with lower circulating oestrogen levels. Therefore, it was concluded that the antioxidant and membrane stabilising role of oestrogen might explain the group differences in CK reported in the current thesis. Conclusion: In agreement with the historical definition, VL fascicles lengthen during MVEKE. Furthermore, it is evident from the current thesis that patella tendon properties determine the magnitude of VL fascicle lengthening during MVEKE, but do not appear to explain the variability or group differences in EIMD

Ralph Waldo Emerson's transatlantic relations: romanticism and the emergence of a self-reliant American reader

This thesis explores three of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s seminal texts, Nature (1836), the “Woodnotes” poems (1840, 1841), and Representative Men (1850), in a transatlantic Romantic context. Augmenting typical transatlantic explorations of Emerson’s literature which often use these three works in demonstration of the various European Romantic assimilations n Emerson’s writing, the texts considered in this study are understood to engage with one British work predominately. Emerson engages antagonistically in the pages of Nature with Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Aids to Reflection (1825), in the “Woodnotes” poems with William Wordsworth’s The Excursion (1814), and in Representative Men with Thomas Carlyle’s On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History (1841). In each instance, Emerson engages with a text that he understands to be particularly representative of the intellectual and creative genius that its British author wields and, as such, one that is anxiety-inducing in the influence that it wields. This thesis demonstrates that, in engaging with these works, Emerson performs with increasing sophistication a process of “‘creative reading,’ that is, an act of reading (influx) through which creation (efflux, expression) is made possible through a transcendence of the past. In doing so, Emerson confronts and attempts to gain independence both from the personal influence that these texts and, more significantly, their authors wield. In engaging in Nature, the “Woodnotes” poems, and Representative Men with Aids to Reflection, The Excursion, and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History respectively, Emerson assimilates into his works various elements of Coleridge’s, Wordsworth’s, and Carlyle’s thought. Each of the three chapters comprising this thesis explores Emerson’s intellectual indebtedness in this regard and, as such, the explorations incorporate a scholastic focus like that found in the majority of Emersonian transatlantic scholarship. In each instance, however, explorations of Emerson’s works also reveal the American writer’s performance of a liberating act of detachment or departure from the ideas with which he engages. These intellectual detachments distinguish Emerson’s thought from that of Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Carlyle, and are often attended by formal departures from the texts with which Emerson engages. Augmenting typical transatlantic explorations of Emerson’s works, this thesis focuses not only Emerson’s Romantic assimilations, but also on his detachments. Finally, in each instance, Emerson’s confrontations reflect Robert Weisbuch’s assessment in Atlantic Double-Cross (1986) that nineteenth century Anglo-American literary relations are ‘always more than personal and individual’ (21). That is to say, in each instance, Emerson confronts not only Coleridge, Wordsworth’s, and Carlyle’s personal creative and intellectual influence, but their extrapersonal or national influence as British writers. This confrontation of national influence is reflected in the fact that Emerson’s detachments incorporate temporal reimaginings, re-visions of time that nullify the potency of the past and of the influence wielded by tradition by emphasising the present and the future, focusing on the subjective power of the mind. As such, Emerson’s conceptions of time demonstrate a conflation of two specifically American understandings of temporality as defined by Robert Weisbuch – vertical time and futurism – both developed by nineteenth century American writers in order to nullify the influence of Old World, specifically British, tradition, and to establish an account of time in which the United States’ comparative lack of distinct cultural history is excused. In precis, this thesis demonstrates that Nature, the “Woodnotes” poems, and Representative Men issue from Emerson’s creative reading of Aids to Reflection, The Excursion, and On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History respectively. These acts of creative reading demonstrate in each instance the inextricability of Coleridge’s, Wordsworth’s, and Carlyle’s ‘personal’ creative and intellectual influence, as well as their ‘extrapersonal’ or national influence

The Role of Perception in Developing Healthy Lifestyles and Community Engagement

Background: The Cobb and Douglas Public Health Department and the Cobb2020 partnership, sponsored by the Mobilizing for Action through Planning and Partnering program, facilitated six focus groups in Cobb County to ascertain residents’ perceptions of healthy behaviors. The purpose of the research was to assist in the development of programs to increase healthy behaviors. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to choose fifty-eight participants, who were divided into six groups in different geographic locations. The focus group questions concerned healthy living, health communications, and community health. Qualitative data analysis techniques were used to generate themes and categories across and within groups. Results: Six themes emerged: 1) need for education; 2) healthy food choices; 3) access to healthcare; 4) trust in health care providers; 5) affordable healthcare; and 6) need for local resources. The results show how community members’ perceptions regarding: a) policies that affect health, b) environments that promote healthier choices, and c) systems that allow individuals to be health consumers influence healthy living and community engagement. Other findings note different perceptions between those with and without health insurance. In addition, socio-economic status and ethnicity were seen as factors related to the perceptions of participants. Conclusions: The findings of this study informed a comprehensive, county-wide Community Health Improvement Plan. As a result of these studies, Cobb & Douglas Public Health established, as two chronic disease prevention interventions, the Cobb2020 Farm Fresh Market and, in the City of Kennesaw, the 100% Tobacco Free Parks and Cemeteries policy