Developing motorway balancing ponds with long-term net ecological value

The contamination of aqueous environments by metals of concern due to anthropogenic factors such as the use of motor vehicles is increasing at an alarming rate, with contaminants such as lead (Pb), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) being carried into receiving waterbodies. The sources of vehicle pollution that contaminate these waterbodies through road runoff are reasonably well understood and the release of the most recognised metals of concern (Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd) are primarily as a result of vehicle abrasion or leaks. Current techniques to remediate motorway runoff, such as balancing ponds, are in place but have the potential to leave toxic residue with the associated removal costs often proving prohibitive.This research focuses on the use of biochar and amended biochar as a remediator for the key metals of concern from motorway run off. The primary aims of this thesis are to: (i) investigate which amendments to biochar improve the immobilisation of Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd (ii) investigate the immobilisation capacities and immobilisation mechanisms of biochar and amended biochar (iii) investigate if amended biochar leaches nutrients harmful to aquatic environments and if so what treatment options are available to mitigate leaching without reducing the immobilisation of Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd, and (iv) to quantify the contact time required for amended biochar to immobilise key metals of concern.Amendments to biochar, particularly wood ash, were found to significantly increase the immobilisation of Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd. Wood ash amended biochar had a maximum measured removal of 61.5 mg/g for Pb, 38.9 mg/g for Cu, 12.1 mg/g for Zn and 10.2 mg/g for Cd, around an order of magnitude greater than pristine biochar. Immobilisation was primarily as a result of precipitation, ion exchange and co-precipitation. When the wood ash was sintered to the biochar, ground to <3mm and rinsed with deionised water the leaching of nutrients, such as phosphates, sulphates and nitrates, fell to below Water Framework Directive thresholds without reducing immobilisation of the metal contaminants. Furthermore, once these treatments were undertaken, the fast removal performance of wood ash amended biochar was still evident with between 86 – 97% of metals being immobilised in the first minute due to precipitation and ion exchange which are key to early stage immobilisation. The results from this research clearly indicate that biochar, specifically wood ash amended biochar has the potential to be scaled up and used to immobilise Pb, Cu, Zn and Cd from motorway runoff as well as from other contaminated aqueous environments such as mine waters

Investigating the effectiveness of education in relation to alcohol: A systematic investigation of critical elements for optimum effectiveness of promising approaches and delivery methods in school and family linked alcohol education

Background: This review examined evidence for school and family linked alcohol education programmes to reduce or prevent the misuse of alcohol by young people. The review aimed to identify critical programme or contextual elements positively associated with evidence of effectiveness. The review paid particular attention to, but was not confined to programmes that included social norms education and/or life skills training and/or the Good Behaviour Game and/or peer-to-peer delivery components. The review was conducted by the Institute for Social Marketing, a joint initiative of the University of Stirling and the Open University. It was commissioned by the Alcohol Education and Research Council (AERC) on behalf of the Drinkaware Trust (DAT) who provided the funding. The original stated purpose of the study was 'to collate evidence that would help to inform how best DAT could approach and be involved in school-based alcohol education across the UK'. Methods: Systematic literature search methods were used, along with a combined quality appraisal and evidence weighting assessment to identify 'promising' interventions. Promising interventions were defined as any intervention where study design was assessed as sound. Weight of evidence for aggregated evaluation results for each intervention was classified as equivocal or convincing. Any intervention reporting adverse effects on substance misuse was excluded. After all relevance and quality screening was completed, the review identified 39 studies collectively reporting on 25 interventions. The results were analysed thematically and with reference to pre-specified research questions. Findings: - The most effective social norms interventions targeted peer alcohol use. Social norm change objectives in both school-based and family components were common and associated with effectiveness. Most of the evidence of effectiveness was derived from mass marketed (not personalised) social norms and did not appear to be informed by dedicated formative research. - Life Skills Training (LST) was also a popular approach, often combined with approaches intended to strengthen protective family factors. Most of the evidence derived from the USA, so cultural transferability remains unclear and requires further piloting. - There was evidence that peer-to-peer delivery is more effective when combined with peer driven planning and other techniques aimed at deeper engagement with target audiences and genuine participatory change. - Reducing environmental availability of alcohol to young people as well as community tolerance of young people's consumption of alcohol appears to enhance the effectiveness of school and family linked alcohol education programmes. - The evidence indicates that a range of education approaches and delivery methods can make a small positive contribution to harm reduction, but there are many examples of interventions which are ineffective or harmful. - Neither knowledge and attitude change, nor acceptability of an intervention is predictive of positive behaviour change. - Involving external specialists can enhance acceptability and effectiveness, but is not critical to effectiveness. - Interventions perceived by target audiences as personally relevant achieve higher retention rates and are more effective than interventions that do not resonate with day to day concerns and circumstances of target audiences. - There is evidence that programme effects, can be sustained up to six years after intervention completion. However, for most interventions positive effects decline fairly rapidly over time and therefore some type(s) of reinforcement intervention are required to maintain positive effects. - Short duration, low-involvement interventions can achieve similar short-term effects to more intensive and longer term interventions. - Most combined family and school‐based interventions appear to lack a holistic perspective or any explanation for how the two components integrated and/or complemented one another within the overall programme design and its aims. Strategic Implications and Recommendations: Combined school and family based alcohol education interventions will be most effective when integrated with broader based environmental interventions. Integration with community interventions can also help to build community ownership and improve intervention acceptability. Explicit linkage of educational interventions with environmental intervention is therefore recommended. Clear conceptual rationale for both the individual content and the integration of school and family components may strengthen efficacy and cost effectiveness. Research in the future on which elements are best delivered via school and which via family programme components would be helpful to future programme design and planning. An overarching strategy grounded in a theoretical model with clear goals and rationale will help guide consistency of messages, priorities and credibility of intervention agents and harm reduction/prevention objectives. This may be especially critical if multiple programmes and target audiences are supported by an intervention organisation. Bottom up/participatory planning and delivery of current practice could be strengthened significantly and the use of specialists in participatory research, development and evaluation are recommended. Consistent, systematic and pre-planned evaluation of future interventions would make a valuable contribution to the scientific evidence base and development of better practice and is therefore recommended. Restricting funding of all future intervention proposals to those which provide a detailed (including dedicated budget) evaluation plan would help to generate reliable and credible practice based evidence. Research into the cost-effectiveness and efficacy of a planned series of short duration, age appropriate interventions would be a useful contribution to the evidence base and development of better practice. Behaviour change must be the definitive measure of effectiveness. It is recommended that scaling up investment should be restricted to approaches and methods that have previously demonstrated measurable (albeit probably small) reductions in alcohol use/misuse, and report comprehensive implementation details

Systematic literature review to examine the evidence for the effectiveness of interventions that use theories and models of behaviour change: towards the prevention and control of communicable diseases

A systematic literature review assessed the effectiveness of interventions using theories and models of behaviour change to prevent or control communicable diseases relevant to Europe. The review was commissioned by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and conducted by the Institute for Social Marketing of the University of Stirling and the Open University

Impacts of Livestock Grazing on Bird Communities in the Eucalypt Woodlands (Australia) and the Forests in Bhutan

Habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation are regarded as the prime causes of bird loss and decline in agricultural regions in Australia. Livestock grazing is considered to have an impact on the bird community in remnant vegetation, but has received minimal attention to date. Livestock also graze large tracts, of forest in Bhutan, and as yet no studies have been conducted to assess the impact of grazing on bird communities there. The goal of this study was to determine the species composition and abundance of birds in grazed and ungrazed sites in eucalypt woodlands in Australia, and in grazed and ungrazed chir pine and broadleaf forests in Bhutan. In both these regions, birds were surveyed by point counts. In general, I observed the following: 1) There was a marked difference in abundance of bird species between grazed and ungrazed sites in broadleaf forests in Bhutan but not in New England woodlands nor in chir pine forests in Bhutan. 2) A collection of habitat specialists remained more associated with ungrazed sites and a suite of generalists with grazed sites in both regions. 3) The broadleaf forest was richer in bird species than chir pine forest

An Experimental Study of the Impact of Gaps and Clusters Silviculture on Insectivorous Birds in a Continuous Forest Landscape

The forests of north-eastern New South Wales have outstanding biological significance. They support 430 species of vertebrate fauna, of which 35 are endemic to the region, and 82 are endangered, threatened or rare. They contain the second highest diversity of bird species in Australia, after the wet tropics of north Queensland. Coastal moist eucalypt forests within this region provide important over-wintering habitat for migratory birds. Despite these values, there has been little prior investigation of the ecology of the avifauna of the northeastern NSW forests and their responses to logging. This study is the first to examine the impact of gaps and clusters silviculture on birds in the forests of eastern Australia

The Ecology of Two Vulnerable Shorebirds ('Haematopus f. fuliginosus' and 'H. longirostris') in Sub-tropical Northern NSW, Australia: Implications for Conservation and Management

Shorebirds around the globe have become increasingly threatened as a result of burgeoning human populations, increased coastal development and habitat loss, recreational activities, predation, and climate change. Australian Pied and Sooty Oystercatchers ('Haematopus longirostris' and 'H. fuliginosus' respectively) are two such species, both coastal residents listed as threatened in New South Wales, Australia. Both rely upon the narrow coastal fringe for foraging, roosting and breeding. Both have undergone declines over recent decades, occur in low numbers, have patchy distributions, are specialist foragers, and are thought to exhibit low breeding success. Despite this, there is a paucity of detailed information on their distribution, population size, key habitat attributes, reproductive biology and ecology, or the impact that various threatening processes have upon these species. Previous work in Australia has focused on counts and movements, with banding programs in Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia where the species is more common. This thesis examines the distribution, habitat use, breeding biology, ecology and impact of threatening processes for both species in northern NSW to provide a basis for effective management of these species

Dung beetle species introductions: when an ecosystem service provider transforms into an invasive species

Dung beetle introduction programmes were designed to accelerate exotic livestock dung degradation and to control dung breeding pestiferous flies and livestock parasites. The introduction programmes provided exotic dung beetle species with an opportunity to cross natural barriers and spread beyond their native range. There are no reports that explain what probable adaptation mechanisms enable particular dung beetle species to be the most successful invader. Here we identify the morphological, biological, physiological, ecological and behavioural attributes of the four most widespread and successful dung beetle species in introduced areas on a global scale in relation to the assumption that these species are different from other exotic and native dung beetles. We have recognised Digitonthophagus gazella (Fabricius), Onthophagus taurus (Schreber), Euoniticellus intermedius (Reiche) and Aphodius fimetarius (Linnaeus) as the most successful invaders based on their spread, predominance, distribution range and the reports of invasion. Each of these four species has different natural history traits that increase their fitness making them successful invaders. D. gazella has high fecundity and spreading ability, can instantly locate and colonise fresh and nutritious dung, and has a broad thermal window. O. taurus has morphological plasticity, high fecundity, high brood survival rate due to bi-parenting, and is adapted to extreme thermal and moisture conditions. E. intermedius has remnant-dung feeding abilities, a wide thermal window, functioning best at upper-temperature levels, and successful breeding and survival abilities at extremely low soil moisture conditions. A. fimetarius is small-sized, has high breeding and dispersal abilities, and is adapted to lower thermal and upper moisture extremes and variable soil conditions. Discussed here are perspectives on adaptive attributes of dung beetle species that are important to consider during their selection for redistributions. We have elaborated on the fitness and success characteristics of the four species individually. Further, we recommend a prior-introduction baseline monitoring of native dung beetle assemblages so as to evaluate the future impact of exotic dung beetle introductions on the recipient ecosystem

The prevalence of loot boxes in mobile and desktop games

Background and Aims Loot boxes are items in video games that may be bought for real-world money but provide randomized rewards. Formal similarities between loot boxes and gambling have led to concerns that they may provide a ‘gateway’ to gambling amongst children. However, the availability of loot boxes is unclear. This study aimed to determine what proportion of top-grossing video games contained loot boxes, and how many of those games were available to children. Design, setting and cases Survey of the 100 top-grossing games on both the Google Play store and the Apple App store, and the top 50 most-played games on Steam according to the data aggregator SteamSpy. Measurements The prevalence of loot boxes was measured for each platform outlined above, split by age rating. Findings A total of 58.0%of the top games on the Google Play store contained loot boxes, 59.0%of the top iPhone games contained loot boxes and 36.0% of the top games on the Steamstore contained loot boxes; 93.1% of the Android games that featured loot boxes and 94.9% of the iPhone games that featured loot boxes were deemed suitable for children aged 12+. Age ratings were more conservative for desktop games. Only 38.8% of desktop games that featured loot boxes were available to children aged 12+. Conclusions Loot boxes appear to be prevalent in video games that are deemed suitable for children, especially on mobile platforms

MitoNeoD:a mitochondria-targeted superoxide probe

Mitochondrial superoxide (O2⋅−) underlies much oxidative damage and redox signaling. Fluorescent probes can detect O2⋅−, but are of limited applicability in vivo, while in cells their usefulness is constrained by side reactions and DNA intercalation. To overcome these limitations, we developed a dual-purpose mitochondrial O2⋅− probe, MitoNeoD, which can assess O2⋅− changes in vivo by mass spectrometry and in vitro by fluorescence. MitoNeoD comprises a O2⋅−-sensitive reduced phenanthridinium moiety modified to prevent DNA intercalation, as well as a carbon-deuterium bond to enhance its selectivity for O2⋅− over non-specific oxidation, and a triphenylphosphonium lipophilic cation moiety leading to the rapid accumulation within mitochondria. We demonstrated that MitoNeoD was a versatile and robust probe to assess changes in mitochondrial O2⋅− from isolated mitochondria to animal models, thus offering a way to examine the many roles of mitochondrial O2⋅−production in health and disease