Land cover classification of active fire and burned area detections for Canadian provinces, 2001-2010.

This thesis is a methodological analysis of fire locations in Canadian provinces from 2001 to 2010. The research presented in this thesis highlights the dominant fire types for each province. Accurately locating active fires and burned area is critical to improving emissions estimates of greenhouse gases and black carbon in northern latitudes. Black carbon and emissions are climate changers. Continual release of emissions from a source location has been shown to alter the atmosphere near the source. Black carbon, or soot ash, deposited on arctic snow and ice leads to faster deterioration of the snow and ice. Detected fires and burned areas are recorded by the MODIS satellite sensor on-board the geo-synchronous orbiting Terra and Aqua satellite platforms. The Introduction and Present Study sections introduce the topic. Satellite data and imagery greatly increase accuracy of emissions estimates and aid emergency response teams and hazard monitoring situations. Infrared sensors onboard the Aqua and Terra satellites allow scientists, emergency planners, and citizens to monitor fires that may be hazardous to their lives, property, and families. The MODIS sensor also allows us the unique perspective of spatially locating fires and their areal extent. The Data section describes the technological specifications of the three remote sensing products: MODIS Active Fire Product, MODIS Burned Area Product, and MODIS Land Cover Dataset. The Literature Review section situates this thesis into its historical perspective. Remote sensing is a new science; new techniques are being developed daily. This exciting new science allows researchers to study the specific wavelengths of light that are not visible to the naked eye. The Methodology section justifies the use of the techniques used in this project and presents a past study that was conducted to test the various products available in order to produce the most accurate picture of what is occurring on the ground. The Results and Conclusions present the spatial and temporal distributions of fires in Canadian Provinces from 2001 to 2010. Emergency response units and researchers can use this research to plan for future fire events. This research is also a first step in producing emissions estimates for the region

Membrane Heat Pump for Combined Sensible and Latent Cooling

Membrane heat pumps are an emerging technology capable of outperforming current vapor-compression cooling systems. The membrane heat pump provides sensible cooling by the same principles used in an evaporative chiller. However, these systems can continue to provide sensible cooling when outside air has dew points higher than the desired coil temperature. Additionally, the membrane heat pump will dehumidify the supply air. This technology is enabled by water vapor transfer membranes with air as the working fluid in partial vacuum. The membrane heat pump is very exciting from an engineering standpoint because the key components of these systems exist today with the main development challenge being design and integration. This will result in a system that is both efficient and sustainable. This poster will discuss the development of a prototype membrane heat pump. Component and system-level design for a fully scalable commercial unit will be described. Cooling capacity and the coefficient of performance derived from experimental data are compared to modeling results. The key parameters impacting cost and performance will also be discussed

Concussion-reporting behavior in rugby: A national survey of rugby union players in the United States

Background: Rugby is the fastest growing team sport in the United States for male and female athletes. It is a contact/collision sport with an injury risk profile that includes concussions. Purpose: To examine the prevalence of concussions in male and female rugby players in the United States and to characterize behaviors around reporting concussions that could be a target for prevention and treatment efforts. Study Design: Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods: An online survey distributed to active members on the USA Rugby membership list was used to examine self-reported concussions in male and female athletes. Concussion-reporting behaviors and return to play after a concussion were also explored. Statistical analysis was used to compare male with female athletes and report differences, with years of experience as a dependent variable. Results: The proportion of athletes with a history of at least 1 concussion was 61.9% in all respondents. Of those who reported a concussion, 50.8% reported the concussion during the game or practice in which it occurred, and 57.6% reported at least 1 concussion to a qualified medical provider. Overall, 27.7% of participants who reported ≥1 rugby-related concussion in our survey noted that at least 1 of these concussions was not formally reported. The most commonly cited reasons for not reporting a concussion included not thinking that it was a serious injury, not knowing that it was a concussion at the time, and not wanting to be pulled out of the game or practice. Additionally, 61.0% of athletes did not engage in recommended return-to-play protocols after their most recent rugby-related concussion. Conclusion: US rugby union athletes may not report concussions to medical personnel or follow return-to-play protocols guided by medical advice. This could result from a lack of education on concussion recognition and the risks associated with continued play after a concussion as well as limited access to health care. Further education efforts focusing on the identification of concussions, removal from play, and return-to-play protocols are necessary in the US rugby union population

Rapid, B1B_1-insensitive, dual-band quasi-adiabatic saturation transfer with optimal control for complete quantification of myocardial ATP flux

Purpose: Phosphorus saturation-transfer experiments can quantify metabolic fluxes non-invasively. Typically, the forward flux through the creatine-kinase reaction is investigated by observing the decrease in phosphocreatine (PCr) after saturation of $\gamma$-ATP. The quantification of total ATP utilisation is currently under-explored, as it requires simultaneous saturation of inorganic phosphate (Pi) and PCr. This is challenging, as currently available saturation pulses reduce the already-low $\gamma$-ATP signal present. Methods: Using a hybrid optimal-control and Shinnar-Le-Roux method, a quasi-adiabatic RF pulse was designed for the dual-saturation of PCr and Pi to enable determination of total ATP utilisation. The pulses were evaluated in Bloch equation simulations, compared with a conventional hard-cosine DANTE saturation sequence, before application to perfused rat hearts at 11.7 Tesla. Results: The quasi-adiabatic pulse was insensitive to a $>2.5$-fold variation in $B_1$, producing equivalent saturation with a 53% reduction in delivered pulse power and a 33-fold reduction in spillover at the minimum effective $B_1$. This enabled the complete quantification of the synthesis and degradation fluxes for ATP in 30-45 minutes in the perfused rat heart. While the net synthesis flux ($4.24\pm0.8$ mM/s, SEM) was not significantly different from degradation flux ($6.88\pm2$ mM/s, $p=0.06$) and both measures are consistent with prior work, nonlinear error analysis highlights uncertainties in the Pi-to-ATP measurement that may explain a trend suggesting a possible imbalance. Conclusion: This work demonstrates a novel quasi-adiabatic dual-saturation RF pulse with significantly improved performance that can be used to measure ATP turnover in the heart in vivo.Comment: 26 pages, Accepted at Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 24/11/2020 [This version post reviews

Economic and livestock health impacts of birds on dairies: Evidence from a survey of Washington dairy operators

The survey described in this research paper aimed to investigate the economic and health impacts of birds on dairies. Birds are common pests on dairies, consuming and contaminating feed intended for cattle. As a result, dairy operators experience increased feed costs and increased pathogen and disease risk. We surveyed dairy operators attending the 2017 Washington Dairy Conference to examine the impact of birds on dairies in Washington State. Dairy operators reported feed losses valued at $55 per cow resulting in annual losses totaling$5.5 million in the Western region of the state and $9.2 million in the Eastern region of the state. Shooting was the most commonly used bird management method and European starlings (Sternus vulgaris) were the most frequently implicated species statewide. Bird abundance greater than 10,000 birds per day was associated with larger herd size and with self-reported presence of Johne’s disease and Salmonella

Comprehensive health assessments during de-institutionalization: An observational study

Background: People with intellectual disability (ID) leaving institutions pass through a transition stage that makes them vulnerable to inadequate health care. They enter into community care under general practitioners (GPs) who are often untrained and inexperienced in their needs. Specifically designed health reviews may be of assistance to both them and their new GPs as they go through that phase

Synthesis, structural studies, and redox chemistry of bimetallic [Mn(CO)₃] and [Re(CO)₃] complexes

Manganese ([Mn(CO)₃]) and rhenium tricarbonyl ([Re(CO)₃]) complexes represent a workhorse family of compounds with applications in a variety of fields. Here, the coordination, structural, and electrochemical properties of a family of mono- and bimetallic [Mn(CO)₃] and [Re(CO)₃] complexes are explored. In particular, a novel heterobimetallic complex featuring both [Mn(CO)₃] and [Re(CO)₃] units supported by 2,2′-bipyrimidine (bpm) has been synthesized, structurally characterized, and compared to the analogous monomeric and homobimetallic complexes. To enable a comprehensive structural analysis for the series of complexes, we have carried out new single crystal X-ray diffraction studies of seven compounds: Re(CO)₃Cl(bpm), anti-[{Re(CO₃)Cl}₂(bpm)], Mn(CO)₃Br(bpz) (bpz = 2,2′-bipyrazine), Mn(CO)₃Br(bpm), syn- and anti-[{Mn(CO3)Br}₂(bpm)], and syn-[Mn(CO₃)Br(bpm)Re(CO)₃Br]. Electrochemical studies reveal that the bimetallic complexes are reduced at much more positive potentials (ΔE ≥ 380 mV) compared to their monometallic analogues. This redox behavior is consistent with introduction of the second tricarbonyl unit which inductively withdraws electron density from the bridging, redox-active bpm ligand, resulting in more positive reduction potentials. [Re(CO₃)Cl]₂(bpm) was reduced with cobaltocene; the electron paramagnetic resonance spectrum of the product exhibits an isotropic signal (near g = 2) characteristic of a ligand-centered bpm radical. Our findings highlight the facile synthesis as well as the structural characteristics and unique electrochemical behavior of this family of complexes

Fatty acids prevent Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1α signalling in type 2 diabetes

SUMMARYHypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1ais essential following a myocardial infarction (MI), and diabetic patients havepoorer prognosis post-MI. Could HIF-1aactivation be abnormal in the diabetic heart, and could metabolism becausing this? Diabetic hearts had decreased HIF-1aprotein following ischemia, and insulin-resistant cardio-myocytes had decreased HIF-1a-mediated signaling and adaptation to hypoxia. This was due to elevated fattyacid (FA) metabolism preventing HIF-1aprotein stabilization. FAs exerted their effect by decreasing succinateconcentrations, a HIF-1aactivator that inhibits the regulatory HIF hydroxylase enzymes. In vivo and in vitropharmacological HIF hydroxylase inhibition restored HIF-1aaccumulation and improved post-ischemic func-tional recovery in diabetes

Tourism policy making: the policymakers' perspectives

This research explores tourism policy making, from the perspectives of policy makers using grounded theory. It focuses on Leeds, a city in the North of England, which is characterized by its turbulent environment. The paper identifies themes around policy making, including low status, lack of clarity, uncertainty, lack of consensus and congruence and complexity. Its findings indicate policy making is essentially a social process, involving communication and negotiation between people in the context of wider change. It suggests a social conceptualization, and further research to investigate the communications involved in producing policy rather than the current research focus on the tangible outputs of the process such as a plan or a physical development