Biological studies on the rivulariaceae

This thesis reports a study on the variation of two genera of blue-green algae, Calothrix and Rivularla. The aspects chosen for detailed study were tapering and the hair. Before any comparative work could be undertaken it was necessary to develop ways of describing, in a quantitative manner, changes in the tapering and hair length. Tapering proved to be complex to describe in a satisfactory manner but four simple indices have been suggested. Measurements of individual trichomes have shown problems inherent in detailed studies of tapering, and the indices suggested by the author have been discussed in relation to this. Experimental studies on tapering have been concerned with elaborating the observations of previous authors that, in the presence of combined nitrogen, Calothrix and Gloeotrichia did not develop their characteristic taper. The effect of combined nitrogen on morphology was studied using the tapering indices. Attempts to culture material with hairs proved difficult; however a few factors which affect the development of the hair have been described. A computer program was developed in order to summarise relationships between the occurrence of hairs and other morphological features which have been described in the literature. For practical reasons it was often necessary to assign a name to members of the genus Rivularia; however in doing this many problems were encountered. To overcome some of these difficulties an objective method of identification was devised. This was used in particular to identify material collected in the field. A brief ecological survey of Rivularia was undertaken in order to study possible correlations between certain aspects of water chemistry and the occurrence of members of the genus

The view from elsewhere: perspectives on ALife Modeling

Many artificial life researchers stress the interdisciplinary character of the field. Against such a backdrop, this report reviews and discusses artificial life, as it is depicted in, and as it interfaces with, adjacent disciplines (in particular, philosophy, biology, and linguistics), and in the light of a specific historical example of interdisciplinary research (namely cybernetics) with which artificial life shares many features. This report grew out of a workshop held at the Sixth European Conference on Artificial Life in Prague and features individual contributions from the workshop's eight speakers, plus a section designed to reflect the debates that took place during the workshop's discussion sessions. The major theme that emerged during these sessions was the identity and status of artificial life as a scientific endeavor

Bodyspace at the pub: sexual orientations and organizational space

In this article we argue that sexuality is not only an undercurrent of service environments, but is integral to the way that these workspaces are experienced and negotiated. Through drawing on Sara Ahmed’s (2006a) ‘orientation’ thesis, we develop a concept of ‘bodyspace’ to suggest that individuals understand, shape and make meaning of work spaces through complex sexually-orientated negotiations. Presenting analysis from a study of UK pubs, we explore bodyspace in the lived experience of workplace sexuality through three elements of orientation: background; bodily dwelling; and lines of directionality. Our findings show how organizational spaces afford or mitigate possibilities for particular bodies, which simultaneously shape expectations and experiences of sexuality at work. Bodyspace therefore provides one way of exposing the connection between sexual ‘orientation’ and the lived experience of service sector work

Unexpected sounds inhibit the movement of the eyes during reading and letter scanning

Novel sounds that unexpectedly deviate from a repetitive sound sequence are well known to cause distraction. Such unexpected sounds have also been shown to cause global motor inhibition, suggesting that they trigger a neurophysiological response aimed at stopping ongoing actions. Recently, evidence from eye movements has suggested that unexpected sounds also temporarily pause the movements of the eyes during reading, though it is unclear if this effect is due to inhibition of oculomotor planning or inhibition of language processes. Here, we sought to distinguish between these two possibilities by comparing a natural reading task to a letter scanning task that involves similar oculomotor demands to reading, but no higher level lexical processing. Participants either read sentences for comprehension or scanned letter strings of these sentences for the letter ‘o’ in three auditory conditions: silence, standard, and novel sounds. The results showed that novel sounds were equally distracting in both tasks, suggesting that they generally inhibit ongoing oculomotor processes independent of lexical processing. These results suggest that novel sounds may have a global suppressive effect on eye-movement control

Electrical impedance spectroscopy enabled in-depth lubrication condition monitoring

Electrical contact resistance or capacitance as measured between two interfaces of a lubricated contact has been used in tribometers, partially reflecting the lubrication condition. In contrast, the electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) provides rich information of magnitude/phase spectrum, which is thoroughly investigated using a combination of electrical circuit models (equivalent to the lubricated contact) and in-situ measurements with a ball-on-disc contact. Results indicate a promising potential of EIS in lubrication condition monitoring, including the variation of lubricant film thickness as estimated using high-frequency magnitude response; the transition between full-film, mixed, and boundary lubrication regimes, as differentiated using extracted electrical resistance together with phase spectrum; the forming of anti-wear boundary film, where extra resistor/capacitor are added; and the degradation of lubricant, such as fuel dilution, oil oxidization, and water emulsifying

Peatland hydrology and carbon release: why small-scale process matters

Peatlands cover over 400 million hectares of the Earth's surface and store between one-third and one-half of the world's soil carbon pool. The long-term ability of peatlands to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere means that they play a major role in moderating global climate. Peatlands can also either attenuate or accentuate flooding. Changing climate or management can alter peatland hydrological processes and pathways for water movement across and below the peat surface. It is the movement of water in peats that drives carbon storage and flux. These small-scale processes can have global impacts through exacerbated terrestrial carbon release. This paper will describe advances in understanding environmental processes operating in peatlands. Recent (and future) advances in high-resolution topographic data collection and hydrological modelling provide an insight into the spatial impacts of land management and climate change in peatlands. Nevertheless, there are still some major challenges for future research. These include the problem that impacts of disturbance in peat can be irreversible, at least on human time-scales. This has implications for the perceived success and understanding of peatland restoration strategies. In some circumstances, peatland restoration may lead to exacerbated carbon loss. This will also be important if we decide to start to create peatlands in order to counter the threat from enhanced atmospheric carbon

Using e-mail recruitment and an online questionnaire to establish effect size: A worked example

Background\ud Sample size calculations require effect size estimations. Sometimes, effect size estimations and standard deviation may not be readily available, particularly if efficacy is unknown because the intervention is new or developing, or the trial targets a new population. In such cases, one way to estimate the effect size is to gather expert opinion. This paper reports the use of a simple strategy to gather expert opinion to estimate a suitable effect size to use in a sample size calculation.\ud \ud Methods\ud Researchers involved in the design and analysis of clinical trials were identified at the University of Birmingham and via the MRC Hubs for Trials Methodology Research. An email invited them to participate.\ud \ud An online questionnaire was developed using the free online tool 'Survey Monkey©'. The questionnaire described an intervention, an electronic participant information sheet (e-PIS), which may increase recruitment rates to a trial. Respondents were asked how much they would need to see recruitment rates increased by, based on 90%. 70%, 50% and 30% baseline rates, (in a hypothetical study) before they would consider using an e-PIS in their research.\ud \ud Analyses comprised simple descriptive statistics.\ud \ud Results\ud The invitation to participate was sent to 122 people; 7 responded to say they were not involved in trial design and could not complete the questionnaire, 64 attempted it, 26 failed to complete it. Thirty-eight people completed the questionnaire and were included in the analysis (response rate 33%; 38/115). Of those who completed the questionnaire 44.7% (17/38) were at the academic grade of research fellow 26.3% (10/38) senior research fellow, and 28.9% (11/38) professor. Dependent upon the baseline recruitment rates presented in the questionnaire, participants wanted recruitment rate to increase from 6.9% to 28.9% before they would consider using the intervention.\ud \ud Conclusions\ud This paper has shown that in situations where effect size estimations cannot be collected from previous research, opinions from researchers and trialists can be quickly and easily collected by conducting a simple study using email recruitment and an online questionnaire. The results collected from the survey were successfully used in sample size calculations for a PhD research study protocol.\ud \u