MESOSCALE EXPERIMENTAL PROTOCOL FOR OIL MOVEMENT UNDER SEA ICE

Decreasing sea ice extent in the Arctic provides more opportunities for human activities (e.g., shipping, development) and increases the likelihood of Arctic oil spills. Sea ice adds complexity into oil spill models because it has significant impacts on oil fate and behavior. Understanding these complexities will improve Arctic oil spill responses and mitigate impacts. As part of a recent project on Arctic response conducted by the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), sea ice and oil spill modelers concluded that further research is needed to model the behavior of oil under ice. The underside of sea ice is affected by waves, currents, winds, and snow cover over time and form shapes of various sizes. Experiments designed and conducted in the MacFarlane Flume at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) are used to better understand the movement of oil under sea ice. Blocks of ice are formed in customized welded boxes (36” length x 11.75” width x 10” depth). An ellipse half cylinder cavity is shaped into the underside of one of the blocks to simulate a typical under ice conformation. The shape and size were recommended by sea ice and oil spill modeling experts on the project’s advisory committee. The ice blocks are secured in the flume and a known volume of oil is injected into the cavity. Water relative velocity is controlled at fine increments (~0.1 m/s; ~0.2 kts) to analyze the movement of oil with respect to the fuel type and temperature. The oil used for preliminary experiments was Hoover Offshore Oil Pipeline System (HOOPS) oil, and oil transport from the cavity was observed at 0.16 +/- 0.03 m/s (0.31 +/- 0.06 kts). Data collection using the equipment and developed methods during this thesis research will enhance the CRRC’s ability to determine the coefficients needed for spill models to predict oil movement under sea ice

Chewing the Fat on Tumor Cell Metabolism

Tumor cells undergo a metabolic shift toward specific bioenergetic (glycolysis) and anabolic (protein and lipid synthesis) processes that promote rapid growth. Nomura et al. (2010) now demonstrate that an increase in monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) drives tumorigenesis through the lipolytic release and remodeling of free fatty acids

Expression of Complement and Toll-Like Receptor Pathway Genes is Associated with Malaria Severity in Mali: A Pilot Case Control Study

Background: The host response to infection by Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite most often responsible for severe malaria, ranges from asymptomatic parasitaemia to death. The clinical trajectory of malaria is influenced by host genetics and parasite load, but the factors determining why some infections produce uncomplicated malaria and some proceed to severe disease remain incompletely understood. Methods: To identify molecular markers of severe falciparum malaria, human gene expression patterns were compared between children aged 6 months to 5 years with severe and uncomplicated malaria who were enrolled in a case–control study in Bandiagara, Mali. Microarrays were used to obtain expression data on severe cases and uncomplicated controls at the time of acute disease presentation (five uncomplicated and five severe), 1 week after presentation (three uncomplicated and three severe) and treatment initiation, and in the subsequent dry season (late convalescence, four uncomplicated and four severe). This is a pilot study for the first use of microarray technology in Mali

Deposition of Drug-delivering Bandages via a Combined Electrostatic and Air-Driven Electrospinning Device

Electrospinning (ES) is an affordable manufacturing process to produce nanoscale, polymer fibers. During ES, a high voltage differential is required to draw out polymer fibers from a polymer solution at a charged spinneret. Fibers produced are then deposited onto an oppositely charged electrode. ES typically requires large, immovable equipment and conductive surfaces for deposition of fibers. Portability and on-demand ES of fiber mats onto non-conductive surfaces would enable use in re- mote locations with limited access to medicine

Gas-Modified Electrospinning with a Portable Device

Project Objective The objective of this work was to construct a miniaturized, portable electrospinning (ES) device for deposition on surfaces regardless of charge. We hope this device can be used by doctors in rural areas to deliver drug delivery bandages. Mathematical modeling was used to improve predictability of the completed portable ES device

Interprofessional Collaboration to Prevent Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia (HAP)

https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/student_scholarship_posters/1138/thumbnail.jp

The Social Construction of Narratives and Arguments in Animal Welfare Discourse and Debate

Stakeholders can hold conflicting values and viewpoints, on what animal welfare is and how a good life is achieved and can signal different problems, or problematize specific aspects of farm animal welfare, and propose different actions or interventions within food supply chains. The aim of the study is to explore the contribution of narrative and argumentative discourse to the social construction and framing of animal welfare and its implications. The methodological approach in this research is composed of two phases with phase 1 being the foundational structured literature search in both academic and grey literature. Phase 2 was the analysis of the secondary data from the literature review to develop a synthesized iterative paper and in doing so develop a typology of five narratives: the ‘farming as a business’ narrative, the ‘religion-based’ narrative, the ‘research, legislative and political based narrative’, the ‘higher welfare’ narrative, and the “animal rights/power-based” narrative. Our findings demonstrate the contestation within the stakeholder discourse of the articulation of why farm animals should have a good life. Performance-related perspectives are rooted in the value-laden language and narratives that shape the arguments regarding notions of good and bad welfare; the emergent positioning of positive welfare for farm animals as well as how to achieve a good life in practice. The novel contribution of this review is the application of an explanatory word-language-discourse-person-situation-environment framework in this specific context to inform future research on animal welfare discourse analysis