Investigating the influence of endosymbionts and population genetics on the predacious ladybird Chilocorus nigritus: implications for biocontrol

The scale insect predator Chilocorus nigritus is considered as one of the most successful and important biological control agents in classical biocontrol. The ladybird is currently a commercial product, used for scale insect control in glasshouse environments, but despite widespread success in wild field releases, use of the predator in glasshouses has achieved only moderate success. This study aimed to find out which factors may affect the success of C. nigritus in glasshouse pest control. Two key factors with potential to have a dramatic impact on the predator were identified; genetic variability within and between insect populations, and male killing endosymbiotic bacteria, known to have a diverse range of effects on up to 70% of all insect species. Beetle strains were sourced from several insectaries and geographical locations. DNA sequencing determined significant genetic differences between biotypes of C. nigritus from different localities, indicating that C. nigritus exists as a series of functional biotypes across its range. All biotypes were tested for Wolbachia, Rickettsia and Spiroplasma infections, identifying Rickettsia and Wolbachia presence in most populations. Uninfected sub-lines of these strains were therefore created via tetracycline treatment. A number of bionomic characteristics of the beetle were compared across these strains and infection types in order to assess the influence of genetics and bacterial endosymbionts. Significant effects of endosymbionts were noted in fecundity and prey consumption, and genetically distinct biotypes varied in their prey consumption. A combination of biotypes and infection types also provided successful suppression of scale insects in glasshouse trials at Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, and beetles were shown to produce a defence pheromone similar to hippodamine, which could potentially be another strong influence on the species’ ecology. This thesis suggests that variability within a predator population may be an asset, rather than a hindrance

Towards measurement and verification of energy performance under the framework of the European directive for energy performance of buildings

Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and Council on the Energy Performance of Buildings has led to major developments in energy policies followed by the EU Member States. The national energy performance targets for the built environment are mostly rooted in the Building Regulations that are shaped by this Directive. Article 3 of this Directive requires a methodology to calculate energy performance of buildings under standardised operating conditions. Overwhelming evidence suggests that actual energy performance is often significantly higher than this standardised and theoretical performance. The risk is national energy saving targets may not be achieved in practice. The UK evidence for the education and office sectors is presented in this paper. A measurement and verification plan is proposed to compare actual energy performance of a building with its theoretical performance using calibrated thermal modelling. Consequently, the intended vs. actual energy performance can be established under identical operating conditions. This can help identify the shortcomings of construction process and building procurement. Once energy performance gap is determined with reasonable accuracy and root causes identified, effective measures could be adopted to remedy or offset this gap

Responding to Gender-based Violence in Scotland: The Scope of the Gender Equality Duty to Drive Cultural and Practical Change

This piece of research has its roots in well-established policy debates in Scotland. Following the passage of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, which introduced a new statutory aggravation for crimes motivated by religious prejudice, the then Scottish Executive convened a working group to explore and make recommendations on whether there was a case for similar provision for other social groups. The report and recommendations of the Hate Crime Working Group, published in 2004, recognised that the debate to introduce gender aggravation was one of the most contested issues which it had looked at, but it did not believe that at that stage it could recommend introducing such a provision. These debates re-emerged with Patrick Harvie’s member’s bill which was to become the Offences (Aggravation by Prejudice) (Scotland) Act 2009. The Equality and Human Rights Commission, along with many organisations in the women’s sector in Scotland, stated in its evidence on the bill that it did not believe that a statutory gender aggravation would be an effective additional criminal justice response to identifying and tackling crime motivated by gender prejudice. This of course begs the question about what is required to better address these types of crime. This piece of research, undertaken for the EHRC by the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research, aims to be a useful contribution to this debate. It explores some of the arguments for and against a gender aggravation in Scots criminal law before considering the evidence thus far of the impact the Gender Equality Duty (GED) has had on Scotland’s criminal justice system, and makes a number of useful recommendations for the future. The EHRC subscribes to a gendered model of violence against women, which sees it as both a cause and consequence of wider gender inequality. We hope this report can help inform ongoing policy debate on criminal justice agencies’ response to violence against women, particularly in light of the new single equality duty which Scottish Ministers will in due course place on Scottish public authorities under powers conferred on them by the Equality Act 2010. We believe that the appropriate regulatory framework for public bodies working in this area is one of the prerequisites for further improving on Scotland’s record of identifying and tackling gender-based crime

Stepping outside normative neoliberal discourse: youth and disability meet – the case of Jody McIntyre

In May 2010, amidst the ‘global financial crisis’ a Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government succeeded a 12-year reign of New Labour in the United Kingdom, and ushered in massive welfare cuts. Although New Labour tabled major welfare and disability benefit reform, they arguably did not activate the harshest of these. This paper focuses on the backlash of youth and disability in the form of demonstrations; two groups that are being hit hard by the political shift to work-first welfare in an era of employment scarcity. The case of young disabled activist Jody McIntyre is used to explore parallels and divergences in neoliberal and ‘populist’ discourses of ‘risky’, troubling’ youth and disability

Investigating excitatory GABAergic signalling & benzodiazepine resistance in an in vitro model of status epilepticus

Status epilepticus (SE) describes a state of persistent seizures which are unrelenting. First- line treatment for status epilepticus uses a group of drugs, the benzodiazepines, that promote the action of the major inhibitory neurotransmitter within the brain, gamma (γ)-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In a subset of patients however, benzodiazepines prove to be ineffective in terminating SE. Previous data from in vitro models has demonstrated that during single seizures, instead of being inhibitory, activation of the GABAA receptor can have an excitatory effect on neurons. To date, it is unknown whether this shift in GABAergic function contributes to SE, nor how it may modulate the anticonvulsant properties of benzodiazepines. In this thesis I explore the role of excitatory GABAergic signaling in an in vitro model of SE and how this may affect the anticonvulsant efficacy of the benzodiazepine, diazepam. Firstly, I confirm that benzodiazepine-resistant SE is prevalent in a South African paediatric population. Secondly, consistent with its established mechanism of action, I show that diazepam enhances GABAAR synaptic currents. Thirdly, using the in vitro 0 Mg²⁺ model of status epilepticus I show that whilst early application of diazepam has anticonvulsant properties, this is lost when the drug is applied during prolonged epileptiform activity. Fourthly, to investigate this phenomenon I use optogenetic activation of GABAergic interneurons to show that interneurons can drive epileptiform discharges during SE-like activity in vitro. Finally, I confirm that during seizure-like events there is a transient shift in GABAergic signaling that is caused by activity driven changes in the transmembrane Cl⁻ gradient. This thesis provides insight into how excitatory GABAergic signaling during prolonged seizures may contribute towards benzodiazepine resistance in SE. I believe that these results are relevant for understanding of the pathophysiology of SE and may help inform optimal treatment protocols for this condition

An electronic weather vane for field science

This paper details the construction of a weather vane for the measurement of wind direction in field situations. The purpose of its construction was to analyse how wind direction affected the attractiveness of an insect pheromone in a dynamic outdoor environment, where wind could be a significant contributor to odour movement. The apparatus described provides a cheap and easy-to-construct alternative to commercial wind vanes, and was shown to provide accurate and continuous measurement of wind direction

Unique continuation for the Lamé system using stabilized finite element methods

We introduce an arbitrary order, stabilized finite element method for solving a unique continuation problem subject to the time-harmonic elastic wave equation with variable coefficients. Based on conditional stability estimates we prove convergence rates for the proposed method which take into account the noise level and the polynomial degree. A series of numerical experiments corroborates our theoretical results and explores additional aspects, e.g. how the quality of the reconstruction depends on the geometry of the involved domains. We find that certain convexity properties are crucial to obtain a good recovery of the wave displacement outside the data domain and that higher polynomial orders can be more efficient but also more sensitive to the ill-conditioned nature of the problem

High hopes? The gender equality duty and its impact on responses to gender-based violence

From 2007 until 2011, legislation in the form of the Gender Equality Duty (GED) required public bodies in Britain to take gender equality into consideration in all their policies and services. This article traces the development and implementation of the GED in Scotland, following a period of constitutional reform. It outlines its scope and focuses on its perceived potential as a policy tool for driving practical and cultural change in the way public bodies, particularly those responsible for the delivery of criminal justice, respond to gender-based violence. In so doing, it highlights the distinctive approach taken to gender-based violence in Scotland, and argues that despite some evidence of mainstreaming, the real potential for change afforded by the (short-lived) GED was never fully realised