Psychological and cultural determinants of women's intentions to donate oocytes.

In oocyte donation, oocytes from one woman can be transferred to another for fertility treatment or used for medical research. However, there is an acute shortage of women from the general population donating their oocytes and this has adverse consequences for infertile patients and medical researchers. The aims of this thesis were to explore the psychological determinants of oocyte donation intentions and to investigate the link between oocyte donation intentions and parenthood using components of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) among women from different ethnic backgrounds. In doing so, a triangulation approach was adopted and one systematic review and five empirical investigations consisting of quantitative, qualitative and experimental research methodologies were carried out. Results revealed that oocyte donation is best accounted for by a diverse dimension of factors, which include positive attitudes towards oocyte donation, unconventional perceptions of parenthood and demographic variables. Some theoretical components of the TPB were supported; in particular Structural Equation Modelling found positive attitudes towards oocyte donation and subjective norms demonstrated a direct influence on the decision to donate oocytes. However, the role of perceived behavioural control in intentions to donate remains uncertain. Perceptions of the importance of parenthood and genetic ties between parent and child are key in determining [un]willingness to donate oocytes for fertility treatment. In addition, findings from this thesis suggest that it may be possible to modify intentions towards oocyte donation using the Framing Effect among White women, but not Women from South East Asia. The results of this thesis have some important implications for research and clinical practice, particularly in its potential to tailor clinical service provision regarding the recruitment of oocyte donors

In situ detection of airbourne fibres by light scattering

Imperial Users onl

Port Rupture(s) and Cross-Racial Kinships in Dionne Brand and Lee Maracle

This paper examines Lee Maracle’s Talking to the Diaspora and Dionne Brand’s A Map to the Door of No Returnfor their respective responses to the Komagata Maru in 1914 and to the Chinese migrants denied entry in 1999. These literary moments are points of departure to examine the Indigenous, Black and Asian kinships that arise within and beyond the colonial policing of encounters. Indeed, Maracle and Brand reconceptualize migrant entry as entry into geographies of kinship rather than into the divisive geography of the port under the nation-state regime. The very site of Asian exclusion that constitutes a Canadian identity, the port, becomes a geographic modality through which racialized collectivities emerge from the possibilities of borderless entrywaysEste documento analiza en los libros "Talking to the Diaspora" de Lee Maracle, y "A Map to the Door of No Return" (Un mapa para la puerta de no retorno) de Dionne Brand, por sus respectivas respuestas al incidente Komagata Maru que ocurrió en 1914, y a los migrantes chinos a los que se les negaba la entrada en 1999. Estos momentos literarios son puntos de partida para examinar los parentescos nativos, afroamericanos y asiáticos que aparecen dentro de, y más allá, de la regulación colonial de encuentros. De hecho, Maracle y Brand vuelven a conceptualizar la entrada de migrantes como una que se adentra en la geografía de los parentescos, en vez de en la brecha geográfica del puerto bajo régimen nacional. La mismísima zona de exclusión asiática que constituye la identidad canadiense, el puerto, se convierte en un modo geográfico, mediante el cual los colectivos racializados aparecen de las posibilidades de entrada sin fronteras

Novel detection and removal of hazardous biocide residues historically applied to herbaria

This research is concerned with the detection and removal of hazardous biocide residues from historic applications to herbarium collections. There are two main aims: • To develop a rapid, cost-effective and non-destructive screening method for identifying toxic residues on herbarium sheets; and • To establish the most suitable decontamination method for the removal of naphthalene from herbarium collections, maintaining the integrity of the specimen. The research outlines how the presence of fluorescent marks on specimen sheets throughout the herbarium, at Amgueddfa Cymru- National Museum Wales (AC-NMW), is indicative of mercury(II) chloride contamination. Compelling evidence is given to support the hypothesis that the observed fluorescence is due to the reduction of Hg(II) to Hg(I) during the oxidative degradation of cellulose, occurring as part of the natural ageing process. The rate of fluorescence development is shown to be increased by the presence of naphthalene, and is estimated to take at least 30 years to develop. From the results obtained, it is evident that a hand-held UV-A lamp can provide a rapid and effective method of identifying samples within a collection that are contaminated with mercury, thus providing a rapid and economical means to prioritise which collections require immediate re-mounting. Furthermore, this method will enforce the implementation of safe, standard procedures to protect personnel and visitors when handling the collections, plus enable the removal of a large amount of hazardous chemical from the herbarium environment. It is also demonstrated, through decontamination tests, that the air-drying of contaminated specimen sheets is a more efficient method of removing naphthalene, than either freeze-drying or oven-drying. It is also the most cost-effective, and the least damaging to the specimen. It is shown that the efficacy of the decontamination is dependent upon the paper type. Thin, unfinished, papers are more efficient at losing naphthalene than the heavier, finished and coated papers, as their porous structure allows the naphthalene to remain more mobile. These results provide important information about which specimen sheets are more likely to be successfully decontaminated by the air-drying procedure and can inform the selection and prioritisation process

Porous cooling of a pile

In this investigation the problem of a limiting case of steady state one dimensional solid-fluid Newtonian heat transfer is examined in which an incompressible non-heat generating coolant fluid is flowing through a heat generating porous plate. The effect of grain size on the Newtonian heat transfer in the porous plate with various kinds of internal heat generations is determined analytically. The temperature difference between the solid and the coolant fluid through the porous plate is determined. All the previous studies assume that in the porous plate, coolant fluid temperature and solid temperatures are approximately equal. This analysis eliminates this simplifying assumption. The cases of uniform, linear, exponential, sinusoidal and any single valued function internal heat generation are studied. The axial temperature distributions in the coolant fluid and the solid porous plate are derived in terms of internal heat generation, porosity of the porous medium, initial temperature of the coolant fluid, size of the spheres forming the porous plate, coolant mass flow rate and the specific heat of the coolant fluid. This analysis aims at better understanding of heat transfer phenomena in porous materials which are increasingly and usefully used in many important fields of science and engineering --Abstract, page ii

The effectiveness of persuasive health communication techniques

Objective: This study tests the effectiveness of Framing and Fear conditions to change attitudes towards elective single embryo transfer (eSET) in a large, non-clinical population. Method:A repeated measures randomised control trial design was used with 632 male and female participants allocated to one of two intervention groups (Framing or Fear condition) or a control group. There were two conditions in the Framing group (gain or loss frame), three conditions in the Fear group (high, medium or low fear) and two control conditions (education and non-education). Questionnaires were completed before exposure to the message (time 1) and immediately afterwards (time 2). Results: High fear (β = .637, P<0.008) and gain frame (β = .718, P<0.005) were the only significant conditions predicting hypothetical intentions towards eSET at Time 2 for the total sample. No other conditions were predictive of hypothetical intentions. Education only improved knowledge and non-education showed no changes in scores. Conclusion: These results highlight the benefits of multidisciplinary expertise in designing health promotion to reduce multiple pregnancies. Practice Implications: Findings suggest that educational material needs to be presented along- side persuasive communication techniques incorporating high fear and gain frames to help promote eSET in clinical practice

Elective single-embryo transfer: persuasive communication strategies can affect choice in a young British population

This study tested the effectiveness of the framing effect and fear appeals to inform young people about the risks of multiple births and the option of selecting elective single-embryo transfer (eSET). A non-patient student sample (age (mean±SD) 23±5.5 years; n=321) were randomly allocated to one of seven groups: (1) framing effect: (1a) gain and (1b) loss frame; (2) fear appeal: (2a) high, (2b) medium and (2c) low fear; or (3) a control group: (3a) education and (3b) non-education. The primary outcome measure was the Attitudes towards Single Embryo Transfer questionnaire, before exposure to the messages (time 1) and immediately afterwards (time 2). Results revealed participants in the high fear, medium fear and gain condition demonstrated the most positive and significant differences (P<0.001 to P<0.05) in their knowledge, hypothetical intentions and modest changes in attitudes towards eSET than the low fear, loss frame and education and non-education messages. The results demonstrate that the use of complex persuasive communication techniques on a student population to promote immediate and hypothetical eSET preferences is more successful at promoting eSET than merely reporting educational content. Future research should investigate its application in a clinical population. A multiple pregnancy is a health risk to both infant and mother following IVF treatment. The aims of this study were to test the effectiveness of two persuasive communication techniques (the framing effect and fear appeals) to inform young people about the risks of multiple births and the hypothetical option of selecting elective single-embryo transfer (eSET) (i.e., only one embryo is transferred to the uterus using IVF treatment). A total of 321 non-patient student sample (mean age 23) were randomly allocated to read a message from one of seven groups: (1) framing effect: (1a) gain and (1b) loss frame; (2) fear appeal: (2a) high, (2b) medium and (2c) low fear; or (3) a control group: education (3a) and (3b) non-education. Participants completed the Attitudes towards Single Embryo Transfer questionnaire, before exposure to the messages (time 1) and immediately afterwards (time 2). Results revealed that participants in the high fear, medium fear and gain condition demonstrated the most positive and significant differences in their knowledge, hypothetical intentions and modest changes in attitudes towards eSET than the low fear, loss frame and education and non-education messages. This study recommends that health promotion based on the framing effect and fear appeals should be tested in clinical (patient) samples in the future