Efficacy of magnesium enriched artificial substrate for oyster restoration

The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is a keystone species that has undergone a large (\u3e 95%) population decline due to overharvest, pollution, and disease. Restoration efforts focus on alternative larval attachment substrates such as concrete, to supplement the loss of natural oyster shell. Magnesium is a component of bivalve shells and its presence in the environment has shown to be important to the growth of mussels, but the same relationship has not been studied in oysters. Assuming that magnesium can be assimilated from the substrate on which the organism is growing, or that ions of magnesium are leached into the water, magnesium supplements to concrete could have a similar benefit. Supplements in the form of magnesium carbonate can be incorporated into cement. A site in the northern neck of the Chesapeake Bay was used to test the effect of different artificial substrates (natural shell, concrete, and concrete enriched with magnesium carbonate) on mortality, growth, and recruitment exhibited by larval oysters and spat. Shell substrate types were tested for their effects on water chemistry in aquaria over the course of 8 weeks to understand the potential for leeching of nutrients into the environment. Spat on magnesium enriched substrates were not found to have a significant statistical difference from other spat for mortality, growth, or recruitment after running Kruskal-Wallis, ANOVA, and Poisson ANOVA analyses respectively (all p val \u3e 0.05). Magnesium supplemented shells in aquaria impacted the pH (-0.14 pH units), alkalinity (+9 ppm CaCO₃), and magnesium (+36 ppm) concentrations in water chemistry over 8 weeks. Spat on all substrates were found to have grown to average sizes larger than expected for the region of the Chesapeake the study was conducted (33-37 mm compared to 24 mm in previous observations), but within the range of growth seen throughout the entire Bay. Although magnesium enriched substrates did not have a significant impact on oysters’ recruitment, growth, and survival relative to other substrates, spat did show higher recruitment and growth, and lower mortality than spat attached to concrete, indicating potential biological significance. The potential exists that higher concentrations of magnesium incorporation into artificial substrates could have a greater impact on attached spat and should be examined in future research

Magic as a Tool of Social Construction: Cultural and Gender Identity in Contemporary Fantasy

Contemporary fantasy is a genre that exists outside the boundaries of what consensus society constructs as socially normative. It re-appropriates and subverts facets of reality in order to place the reader in a position from which they can re-assess their own socially constructed identities, perspectives, and assumptions. Fantasy accomplishes this goal by expressing the familiar in a mode of hyper-exaggeration designed to highlight the ways in which the ideals and issues are constructed. In this way fantasy questions and critiques reality. This thesis examines how the contemporary fantasy genre uses magic as a tool to highlight the less visible social forces of reality such that the reader can gain insight into how and why social norms come to be established, as well as how they might be changed. It discusses the presentation of conflicting cultural and gender identities within fantasy worlds. Works by Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, Jim Butcher, Peter V. Brett, and Patrick Rothfuss will be drawn on. By looking to the magic of the world as a focusing lens, these social conflicts and differences become clearer. The discussions undertaken in this thesis demonstrate an approach to contemporary fantasy literature that can be further utilised across a multitude of subgenres and social issues of contemporary reality

Resilience, Agency and Coping with Hardship : Evidence from Europe during the Great Recession

© Cambridge University Press 2018This paper aims to contribute to the growing literature on resilience by focusing on coping with hardship during the Great Recession, drawing upon primary data gathered through household and key informant interviews in nine European countries. As the resilience approach highlights agency, the paper examines the nature of household responses to hardship during this period on the basis of the ‘structure-agency problem’. An important contribution of this paper is to identify different forms of agency and discuss their implications. More specifically, we conceptualise three different types of agency in coping with hardship: absorptive, adaptive and transformative. Analysis of the findings indicates that structural constraints remain prominent. Most coping mechanisms fall under the category of absorptive and adaptive agency characterised here as burden-bearing actions that ‘conform’ to changing circumstances rather than shaping those circumstances.Peer reviewe

Open ICT ecosystems transforming the developing world

To be published March 2010 in open access journal "Information technology and information development (ITID)"The ICT ecosystem is understood to be more than just a technological system; rather, it is a social system within which ICTs are embedded. The paper argues that open Information and Communication Technology (ICT) ecosystems provide the space for the amplification and transformation of social activities that can be powerful drivers of development. The argument suggests that development research should focus on new social activities enabled by different configurations of ICT ecosystems, and their connection to particular social outcomes

Facilitating the Growth and Development of the Namibia Project Center

Our goal was to develop sponsor relationships and find projects for the Namibia Project Center (NPC). We identified suitable IQP and MQP sponsors and their proposed projects. We ranked these organizations based on their ability to sponsor and enthusiasm, and their projects on expected quality. We assessed our sponsor communication methods to determine which were the most effective. Our methods will assist the NPC Director in expanding the NPC, and can be adapted for use at other project centers

Tslp Production by Dendritic Cells Is Modulated by IL-1β and Components of the Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Response

Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) produced by epithelial cells acts on dendritic cells (DCs) to drive differentiation of TH2-cells, and is therefore important in allergic disease pathogenesis. However, DCs themselves make significant amounts of TSLP in response to microbial products, but little is known about the key downstream signals that induce and modulate this TSLP secretion from human DCs. We show that human monocyte derived DC (mDC) secretion of TSLP in response to Candida albicans and β-glucans requires dectin-1, Syk, NF-κB, and p38 MAPK signaling. In addition, TSLP production by mDCs is greatly enhanced by IL-1β, but not TNF-α, in contrast to epithelial cells. Furthermore, TSLP secretion is significantly increased by signals emanating from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response, specifically the unfolded protein response sensors, inositol-requiring transmembrane kinase/endonuclease 1 and protein kinase R-like ER kinase, which are activated by dectin-1 stimulation. Thus, TSLP production by mDCs requires the integration of signals from dectin-1, the IL-1 receptor, and ER stress signaling pathways. Autocrine TSLP production is likely to play a role in mDC-controlled immune responses at sites removed from epithelial cell production of the cytokine, such as lymphoid tissue