Effectiveness and perspectives of women in the Dutch breast cancer screening programme

This thesis provides an overview of the evaluation of the Dutch breast cancer screening programme. The first part evaluates the effectiveness of the current programme and whether it can be improved. The second part focusses on the perspectives of the women eligible for breast cancer screening and their quality of life

Effectiveness and perspectives of women in the Dutch breast cancer screening programme

This thesis provides an overview of the evaluation of the Dutch breast cancer screening programme. The first part evaluates the effectiveness of the current programme and whether it can be improved. The second part focusses on the perspectives of the women eligible for breast cancer screening and their quality of life

The influence of water motion on the growth rate of the kelp Laminaria digitata

The work described in this paper was produced as part of SuperGen Marine Energy Research Consortium II, which was funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (grant number EP/E040136/1).The shallow water kelp Laminaria digitata, abundant in coastal zones of the North Atlantic, is exposed to a range of hydrodynamic environments that makes it ideal for assessing the role of water motion on their growth rate. Here we quantify the growth of L. digitata, as a factor of blade and stipe elongation, at sites adjacent to Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland under different hydrodynamic conditions over a one year period. A modelling approach was used to numerically determine both the temporal and spatial variability of the hydrodynamic environment. Ambient seawater nutrient concentrations, temperature and irradiance were measured as well as the internal nutrient status of the L. digitata populations. Kelp populations growing in the greatest and lowest water motion showed the lowest growth rates. Differences observed in growth rate could not be attributed to seawater nutrient availability, temperature or light. The internal nutrient status also suggested no influence on the observed differences in growth rate. Therefore if there are minimal differences in light, temperature and nutrients between sites, then populations of L. digitata exposed to different water motions are likely to exhibit different growth rates. It is suggested that the growth rate differences observed were a function of water motion with the possibility that, in response to the hydrodynamic forces experienced by the algal cells, L. digitata kelps in the high energy environments were putting more energy into strengthening cell walls rather than blade elongation.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Rhamnolipids Mediate the Effects of a Gastropod Grazer in Regards to Carbon–Nitrogen Stoichiometry of Intertidal Microbial Biofilms

Microbial biofilms have co-evolved with grazing animals, such as gastropods, to develop mutually beneficial relationships. Although microbial biofilms demonstrate resilience and resistance to chemical exposure, pre-existing relationships can be negatively affected by chemical input. In this study, we determined how the grazer, Littorina littorea (common periwinkle sea snail), and a biological surfactant (rhamnolipid) interact on a phototrophic marine biofilm. Biofilms were cultured in 32 twenty-liter buckets at the Queen’s University Marine Laboratory in Portaferry, Northern Ireland on clay tiles that were either exposed to 150 ppm of a rhamnolipid solution or that had no chemical exposure. L. littorea were added into half of the buckets, and biofilms were developed over 14 days. Biofilms exposed to grazing alone demonstrated high tolerance to the disturbance, while those growing on rhamnolipid-exposed substrate demonstrated resistance but experienced slight declines in carbon and stoichiometric ratios. However, when exposed to both, biofilms had significant decreases in stoichiometry and declined in productivity and respiration. This is problematic, as continuing marine pollution increases the likelihood that biofilms will be exposed to combinations of stressors and disturbances. Loss of biofilm productivity within these areas could lead to the loss of an important food source and nutrient cycler within the marine ecosystem

A review of unmanned aerial vehicles usage, as an environmental survey tool, within tidal stream environments

Funding Information: This work was funded by the Bryden Centre project, supported by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme and managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The views and opinions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect those of the European Commission or the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). Aspects of this research were also funded by a Royal Society Research Grant (RSG\R1\180430), the NERC VertIBase project (NE/N01765X/1), the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy’s offshore energy Strategic Environmental Assessment programme and EPSRC Supergen ORE Hub (EP/S000747/1).Peer reviewe