Anticaking methods for pharmaceutical grade salt : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology in BioProcess Engineering at Massey University

This is an investigation into the causes of caking in the pharmaceutical grade salt produced by Dominion Salt Limited. It was found that the caking mechanism that occurs in sodium chloride is humidity caking. A moisture audit of the Dominion Salt plant showed that the primary factors causing caking are the initial water activity of the salt and the temperature gradient that the salt is exposed to during packing and storage. Experiments were conducted to determine the physical properties of the salt: the bulk density, the thermal conductivity, the particle size distribution and the moisture sorption isotherm. Using these properties, a mathematical model was modified to predict whether caking would occur in a salt bed subjected to specific temperature and moisture conditions. Model validation experiments were performed, where caking was produced by exposure to a temperature gradient. The mathematical model was compared to experimental data and altered until it accurately simulated observed results. The model was then used to predict the circumstances that will induce significant caking in a salt bed and a chart of the results collated to show when caking will occur. Given the salt temperature, the ambient temperature and the initial water activity, the chart can be used to determine whether caking will occur in the bagged salt

Trading Down? The Impact of Recession on Meat Consumption

Consumer/Household Economics, Demand and Price Analysis, Marketing, Q1,

Random subtrees of complete graphs

We study the asymptotic behavior of four statistics associated with subtrees of complete graphs: the uniform probability $p_n$ that a random subtree is a spanning tree of $K_n$, the weighted probability $q_n$ (where the probability a subtree is chosen is proportional to the number of edges in the subtree) that a random subtree spans and the two expectations associated with these two probabilities. We find $p_n$ and $q_n$ both approach $e^{-e^{-1}}\approx .692$, while both expectations approach the size of a spanning tree, i.e., a random subtree of $K_n$ has approximately $n-1$ edges

rpartOrdinal: An R Package for Deriving a Classification Tree for Predicting an Ordinal Response

This paper describes an R package, rpartOrdinal, that implements alternative splitting functions for fitting a classification tree when interest lies in predicting an ordinal response. This includes the generalized Gini impurity function, which was introduced as a method for predicting an ordinal response by including costs of misclassification into the impurity function, as well as an alternative ordinal impurity function due to Piccarreta (2008) that does not require the assignment of misclassification costs. The ordered twoing splitting method, which is not defined as a decrease in node impurity, is also included in the package. Since, in the ordinal response setting, misclassifying observations to adjacent categories is a less egregious error than misclassifying observations to distant categories, this package also includes a function for estimating an ordinal measure of association, the gamma statistic

Rounding of the Administrative Supervisor and the Engagement of Charge Nurses in an Acute Hospital Setting

Hospitals that generate positive employee engagement can retain employees and produce positive effects on the hospital budget, employee morale, and high quality patient care. The purpose of this research will be to study the relationship of Administrative Supervisor rounding and the employee engagement of unit charge nurses. Understanding the significance regarding hospital leadership presence during off shifts, weekends and holidays can have an impact on employee satisfaction, retention, ill calls, and hospital morale and produce better patient care. The hypothesis for this research focuses on the physical presence of the Administrative Supervisor which leads to greater perceived leadership support and generates positive work engagement for charge nurses in acute care hospital settings. This paper examines whether it is beneficial for a hospital to support the role of the Administrative Supervisor during the off shifts when management is not visible on the nursing unit

The binding of fluorophores to beta-cyclodextrin derivatives

β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) is a seven-unit cyclic sugar molecule with a toroidal shape, a hydrophilic exterior and a hydrophobic cavity. It has been suggested that pyrene (P) forms a 2:1 (P(β-CD)2) complex with β-CD, where pyrene lies in-between the two wider rims of the β-CD. We examined this hypothesis by comparing the spectral properties of pyrene in the presence of substituted β-CDs. These properties include the shape and lifetime of pyrene fluorescence and the effect on pyrene fluorescence of added iodide quencher and alcohol. The derivatives studied included those with substituents only on the narrow rim, and those with substitution on both the narrow and wide rims. Our evidence indicates that a 2: 1 complex is f01meli when there is no substitution on the wider rim of the β-CD molecule. The complexing patterns of β-CDs with two other fluorophores have also been examined: 2-acetylnaphthalene (2-AN) and N-phenyl-2-naphthylamine (NP-2-NA). The analysis using 2-AN utilized only the methylated β-CDs, while the NP-2-NA analysis only examined the p-CD monomer

Characterization of porcine adipose tissue-derived stem cells

Nuclear transfer (NT) results in low success rates and research has reported problems with the welfare of cloned animals produced. Evidence suggests the use of a less differentiated donor cell, such as a stem cell, may lead to an increase in the efficiency of the NT procedure. Stem cell characteristics must be clearly defined in order to isolate, identify and optimally culture potential donor cells. Stem cell characteristics such as self-renewal and differentiation have not been identified in stem cells from porcine adipose tissue, an easily attainable tissue resource. The phenotypic profile of cell surface proteins and chromosomal stability of porcine adipose tissue-derived stem cells (pASCs) through in vitro culture have not been described. Also, research has not identified epigenetic modifications in adult somatic mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from porcine adipose tissue. The objective of Project 1 was to develop a protocol for the isolation and culture of pASCs and to determine stem cell-like characteristics. The objective of Project 2 was to characterize the surface protein phenotype of undifferentiated porcine ASCs and to determine the chromosomal stability through in vitro culture. The objective of Project 3 was to analyze pASCs and compare them to fetal porcine fibroblasts (FPF) for gene expression profiles of chromatin remodeling proteins, global methylation and acetylation patterns and methylated lysine residues within promoter regions of developmentally important transcription factors. Improved culture conditions and defined cellular characteristics of these pASCs have been identified. pASCs can self-renew and differentiate into multiple tissue lineages. Porcine ASCs do not express the stem cell surface markers analyzed at similar levels compared with those of human ASCs reported in the literature. Also, in vitro-cultured porcine ASCs used as donor cells for NT should be chosen from early population doublings (PDs) due to increased levels of aneuploidy at later PDs. Further characterization of porcine ASCs in this manner could assist the isolation and purification of a population of MSCs from the easily obtainable tissue of adipose that can later be tested as donor cells in nuclear transfer

The effects of a specifically designed pre-school inclusion course on the attitudes of early childhood personnel

The intent of this study was to examine the attitudes of early childhood personnel on preschool inclusion before and after participating in a preschool inclusion class that was specifically designed for preschool teachers. The attitudes of teachers were measured using a 7 point Likert type pre and post-assessment scale. The items on the scale dealt with the inclusion of children with disabilities in a typically developing classroom. The participants in the study included 96 early childhood personnel working in West Virginia. In this pre-experimental design, the total scores of each item for the pre-test were compared to total scores on each item for the post-test. In addition a paired t test with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was calculated for each of the seven items, which indicated that all pre-test versus post-test differences were significant along with the total scores at the p \u3c.01 level

African-American Parents’ Cultural Understandings of the Concept of Autism and Implications for Parental Communication and Health Management

In 2023 the Centers of Disease Control reported that around 1 in 36 children are diagnosed with Autism in America and that the prevalence has increased by 178% since 2000 (CDC, 2023). Despite increases in awareness and diagnosis past research finds that the discussions of ASD in African American communities is minimal (Fombonne, 2003; Yeargin Allsopp et al., 2003). This disparity is important considering that African American children receive an ASD diagnosis years later than their white counterparts and are much more likely to be misdiagnosed (Mandell et al., 2009, 2002). Given the history of a lack of representation of African Americans in the ASD literature and disparities in its diagnosis, treatment, and management, this thesis reports an exploratory, qualitative communication study of African American parents’ understandings of ASD and their associated experiences. A purposive sample of 10 African American parents of ASD children were interviewed and analyzed using analytical induction and NVivo-12. Overall, the primary findings this thesis discovered is that many African American parents of children with ASD reported meanings associated with ASD as being neurologically “different,” but not neurologically “disordered” (as understood in the medical community). Also similar to other parents ASD is seen as something that is a “danger” to their child requiring parental protections. However, to the extent institutionalized racist patterns are perceived to exist in a given context, unique among African American parents is the perception that ASD also means a heightened need to protect the child from “yet one more way to experience discrimination” by exercising heighted caution when interacting with white medical providers. African American parents shared their difficult experiences communicating with white service providers that led to the development of a “fighting” spirit within them to advocate for their children and protect them even more. Finally, the parents expressed their difficulties of raising a child with ASD highlighting family members reactions, lack of support, cultural conflicts, and the need for more education about ASD in the African American community