Peatlands are a globally important, terrestrial store of carbon and the UK is recognised as an internationally significant holder of peatlands. Of all the kinds of peatland found in the UK, blanket bogs are dominant, representing 87% of the UK’s peatland area. The UK’s peatlands, in contrast to many other areas of boreal/temperate peat, are relatively accessible and as such have been subject to land-management pressures for many thousands of years. These management pressures have led to the deterioration of many peatlands in the UK, with only 1% of England’s peatlands being considered ‘pristine’ in a Natural England report (Natural England, 2010). Climate change and increasing land-use pressures are predicted to affect all UK peatlands in coming years. As such, studies of the drivers of carbon cycling on UK peatlands are being undertaken in order to help in the construction of models to predict the dynamics of peatland carbon balance. These models will subsequently enable land-managers and policy makers to take informed decisions regarding peatland management and carbon storage. One such model of peatland carbon balance is the Durham Carbon Model, which uses a mass balance between fluxes of carbon in and out of a peatland in order to estimate its net carbon budget. While the Durham Carbon Model is able to deal with the effects of some aspects of land-management on peatland carbon balance, there remain a number of important drivers as yet unaccounted for in the model. As such, the remit of this thesis was to conduct in-situ, experiments in order to provide additional data on peatland carbon cycling with a view to incorporating these drivers into the model. Specifically, this research examines three areas as yet unaccounted for in the Durham Carbon Model: altitude, vegetation and diurnal processes. These factors are considered relative to CO2 flux and, in some cases, soil pore water dissolved organic carbon concentration. Additional experiments were also performed to determine whether empirical models of CO2 flux can be physically interpretable. Results obtained for this thesis suggest that the most important factor in predicting CO2 flux on blanket peat soils is vegetation type and vegetation mediated processes, i.e. photosynthetic controls on respiration. Moreover, the relationship between respiration and photosynthesis was found across a range of other factors and temporal scales. In addition to vegetation, altitude was found to significantly affect CO2 for some vegetation types. Therefore, both of these factors are to be incorporated into the Durham Carbon Model. Experiments suggested that empirical models of CO2 flux can be physically interpretable. The results of the diurnal experiment gave evidence to support the hypothesis that some component of the relationship between photosynthesis and respiration is temporally lagged, perhaps by 3 hours. However, the results were not unequivocal and thus further work is needed to fully examine some of the results presented herein.

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・論文博士 / 博士(工学) / 乙第12335号 / 論工博第4013号 / 新制||工||1466(附属図書館) / 27190 / UT51-2009-D550 / (主査)教授 森山 裕丈, 教授 伊藤 秋男, 教授 高木 郁二 / 学位規則第4条第2項該当

The Blanket of the Dark is a psychological thriller that explores the horrors of postpartum psychosis, a rare but serious illness a new mother can experience in the days and weeks following the birth of her child. The film is an intimate portrayal of the psychology of a new mother suffering from the hallucinations and delusions that are symptoms of this horrific and oftentimes undiagnosed illness. In the end, motherhood for women with undiagnosed postpartum psychosis is anything but joyful, and can lead to suicide and murder. This paper is a candid analysis, a production report as it were, of the making of my thesis film, The Blanket of the Dark. I will begin with an introduction to how The Blanket of the Dark came to be, and then dive into a detailed plot analysis along with “behind-the-scenes” accounts of my thoughts and experiences on screenwriting, preproduction, production and postproduction process. All documents used during production are included in the appendix. I hope that future filmmakers will read my about my journey and know that, while filmmaking is one of the most challenging experiences anyone can have and questions about their talents and merits may arise, the insecurities and perceived impossibilities are hurdles that any filmmaker can overcome.

Vegetable producers may benefit from integrating living mulches into their operations to manage weeds and improve soil quality. Living mulches, however, can reduce vegetable yield through competition. Here we investigate strip tilling into living mulches and then direct seeding a vegetable crop in the strip till zone as a production practice to limit competition. We further investigate the use of two surface-applied mulches, a newsprint hydromulch and a compost blanket, for weed control within the strip till zone. In field conditions, living mulches reduced vegetable yield by 49-84% and the use of the newsprint hydromulch and compost blanket reduced weed biomass by 84% and 85% respectively. In greenhouse conditions, a 50% reduction in the hydromulch application rate used in the field experiment achieved similar weed control, suggesting an application rate of 6.4 L m-2 or a mulch strength of 0.6 MPa may be sufficient for weed control with a hydromulch.

Use of an induced blanket reactor (IBR) to break down organic matter into methane is a financially attractive method to reduce the environmental impact of animal or industrial waste. In order to better understand the biological processes involved with the conversion of waste to biogas by an IBR, it is necessary to gain a better understanding of the microorganisms and their roles in the reactor. Molecular techniques based on the isolation of 16S rDNA were used in order to avoid the limitations posed by conventional culture-based techniques. Total DNA was extracted and amplified using universal primers specific to eubacteria and archaea with the purpose of identifying the dominant microorganisms in the IBR. The amplified DNA was separated based on its sequence composition by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Several bands were then excised, cloned, and sequenced, in order to characterize the phylogenetic affiliation of many of the microorganisms and create a useful molecular fingerprint. By using this approach, close relatives of several microorganisms that are typical in anaerobic digestion have been identified, including species of Clostridium, Flavobacterium, Bacteroides, Spirochaeta, Methanobrevibacter, and Methanosarcina. Several species were also identified whose role in the reactor is not completely understood, consisting of relatives of Dehalococcoides, Planctomyces, Aequorivita, and Sedimentibacter species. The information obtained in this project may enable refinements that promote desirable reactions and enhance reactor efficiency.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(エネルギー科学) / 甲第18388号 / エネ博第300号 / 新制||エネ||62(附属図書館) / 31246 / 京都大学大学院エネルギー科学研究科エネルギー変換科学専攻 / (主査)教授 小西 哲之, 教授 宇根﨑 博信, 准教授 笠田 竜太 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Energy Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Syfte: Att beskriva arbetsterapeuters erfarenheter av interventioner för klienter med sömnstörning, med en fördjupad inriktning mot tyngdtäcken. Metod: En kvalitativ studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Deltagarna i studien utgjordes av åtta arbetsterapeuter, från samma geografiska område, med klinisk erfarenhet av arbete med interventioner vid sömnstörning. Insamlade data analyserades med induktiv ansats. Resultat: Analysen av data resulterade i fem kategorier: Vikten av en arbetsterapeutisk kartläggning för en framgångsrik intervention, Att kombinera interventioner vid sömnstörning, Tyngdtäckets inverkan på symptom kopplade till sömnstörning, Sömnstörningens och tyngdtäckets inverkan på möjlighet till delaktighet i aktivitet samt Organisatoriska förutsättningar för arbetsterapeutiska interventioner vid sömnstörning. Arbetsterapeuternas kliniska erfarenhet påvisade i denna studie att tyngdtäcke och sömnhygiensiska råd var betydande interventioner för klienter med sömnstörning. Resultatet visade att dessa interventioner kunde ha en positiv inverkan på klientens hälsa samt bidra till ökad förmåga att utföra vardagsaktiviteter. Slutsats: Studien har bidragit med kunskap kring arbetsterapeuters erfarenheter av interventioner vid sömnstörning och dess inverkan på klienterna. Vidare forskning krävs inom området för att ytterligare kunna styrka sömnhygieniska råden och tyngdtäckes positiva inverkan på individer med sömnstörning.

Mellansedimenteringsbassänger är inte sällan flaskhalsen för flödeskapaciteten vid reningsverk. För höga flöden kan leda till slamflykt, vilket påverkar efterkommande reningssteg negativt. Om en stor mängd slam från systemet försvinner kan detta även påverka det biologiska reningssteget negativt. Att förstå dynamiken av slamkvalitet och flödeskapaciteten är därmed viktigt både för att veta hur nya bassänger ska dimensioneras och för att bestämma belastningen för befintliga bassänger. Syftet med denna studie var att utvärdera flödeskapaciteten för mellansedimenteringen för det biologiska reningssteg C vid Kungsängsverket, Uppsala Vatten och Avfall AB:s största reningsverk. Syftet var också att studera hur temperaturen påverkade flödeskapaciteten. Genom att utföra sedimenteringstester med slam från Biosteg C vid olika koncentrationer och temperaturer kunde slammets kvalitet kvantifieras och användas för beräkningar och simuleringar för utvärdering av flödeskapaciteten. Sedimenteringstesterna visade på en tydlig skillnad i sedimenteringshastiget vid de olika temperaturerna. I Stokes lag användes olika värden på densiteten och viskositeten, vilka är parametrarna som förändras med temperaturen, för att undersöka en förväntad förändring i sedimenteringshastiget. Kvoten mellan 20 och 5° C var cirka 2 och kvoten mellan 10 och 5° C var cirka 1,2. Kvoterna mellan sedimenteringstesten varierade, men resultatet visade på en liknande trend som för Stokes lag. Bürger-Diehls och Takács sedimenteringsmodeller användes i den här rapporten med Takács sedimenteringsfunktion. Bürger-Diehlmodellen användes för att kalibrera parametrarna i Takács sedimenteringsfunktion, vilket gjordes genom att simulera sedimenteringstest och minimera felet mot den verkliga slamnivån vid sedimenteringstesten. Parametern 𝑣0 minskade med ökande temperatur vilket är en omvänd trend jämfört med litteratur. Parametern 𝑟h minskade med temperaturen vilket stämmer överens med litteratur. Flödeskapaciteten utvärderades vid konstant och dynamiskt flöde. För det konstanta flödet användes olika modeller, State Point-analys, Takács sedimenteringsmodell samt Bürger-Diehls sedimenteringsmodell med 10 och 30 lager. Alla modeller visade på ökande flödeskapacitet med ökande temperatur. Takács och Bürger-Diehl med 10 lager gav mindre noggranna resultat på grund av den låga mängden lager så för det dynamiska flödessimuleringarna användes bara Bürger-Diehlmodellen med 30 lager. Dessa simuleringar visade liknade resultat som för det konstanta flöden vid 6° C och 12° C. Vid 22° C visade däremot det dynamiska resultatet på en lägre kapacitet än för det konstanta flödet. Trots att sedimenteringstesten och de skattade modellparamterarna visade på en icke försumbar temperaturpåverkan ingår inte temperaturen i de använda sedimenteringsmodellerna. Detta kan leda till överskattning av flödeskapaciteten vintertid, exempelvis vid snösmältning. I framtiden bör därför detta tas hänsyn till vid dimensionering/modellering av mellansedimenteringsbassänger. / Secondary sedimentation tanks are usually the bottleneck of the flow capacity for wastewater treatment plants. High flows risk sludge escaping the system, which can negatively affect the following treatment steps. If a greater amount of the activated sludge escapes, the treatment efficiency could greatly decrease. Understanding the dynamic of sludge quality and flow capacity is detrimental to designing new secondary settling tanks and determining capacity of existing ones. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the flow capacity of the secondary settling tank for the biological treatment step C at Kungsängsverket, Uppsala Vatten och Avfall AB’s biggest wastewater treatment plant. The purpose was to study how different temperatures affected the flow capacity as well. By performing batch settling tests with sludge from the biological treatment step C, with different concentrations and temperatures, the sludge quality was quantified and could be used for calculations and simulations to evaluate the flow capacity. A clear distinction in the zone settling velocity could be observed between the different temperatures. Different values for the density and viscosity, correlated to the different temperatures used for the batch tests, were used in Stoke’s law to get an expected change of velocity. Between 20° and 5° C the quota was roughly 2 and between 10° and 5° C it was around 1,2. The quota for the batch tests differed randomly for the different concentrations, but the result indicated a similar trend as for Stokes law. The Bürger-Diehl and Takács sedimentation models were used for this study with the sedimentation function of Takács. The Bürger-Diehl model was used to calibrate the parameters in Takács function. This was done by simulating a batch test and minimizimg the sum of squared error compared to the actual sludge level from the batch test. The parameter 𝑣0 decreased in value with increasing temperature, which is a reversed trend seen from the literature. The parameter rh decreased with increasing temperature, which follows literature trends. The flow capacity was evaluated for a constant and dynamic flow. Constant flow was used with different models for comparison, which were, State point analysis, the Takács sedimentation model and the Bürger-Diehl sedimentation model with 10 and 30 layers. The result from all models indicated a higher flow capacity the higher the temperature. The flow capacity with Takács and Bürger-Diehl models with 10 layers gave a lower flow capacity than expected, which was because of the low resolution, therefore, the Bürger-Diehl model with 30 layers was used for the dynamic flow. The dynamic flow gave a similar result for 6° and 12° C, however, for 22° C the flow capacity was lower for the dynamic flow. Even though the batch tests and the estimated parameters showed a difference with temperature, it’s not included in any sedimentation model. This could lead to an overestimation of the flow capacity during wintertime, for example during snowmelt. Further research should be conducted to confirm these results and possibly be interpreted for future modelling of secondary sedimentation tanks.

Thesis (MScEng (Process Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / The Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor (UASB) provides a state-of–the-art solution to effluent treatment by anaerobic digestion: sludge production is dramatically lower than in other digestion processes, and energy is gained from the system if the produced biogas is converted to electricity and/or heat. The UASB is a modified fluidised bed reactor, with the solid state ‘catalyst’ being granulated anaerobic sludge, and the liquid phase the effluent that needs to be treated. A gas cap is installed to serve as a carbon dioxide and methane collector. This biogas (carbon dioxide and methane) is produced by the stepwise decomposition of complex carbohydrates and proteins via a consortium of micro-organisms living in a symbiotic environment known as a granule. A typical UASB reactor has an organic removal rate of 89-93% Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and operates optimally at loadings of 9.8-11 kg COD/ m3 reactor volume/day. Unfortunately, one major problem hampers the efficiency of this reactor to such an extent that the unit is only economically viable in exceptional cases; if the reactor is inoculated with un-granulated anaerobic sludge, start-up times of up to 12 months can be expected. The lengthy start-up times motivated the search for an artificial way to cultivate USAB granules. Early research (done on lab-scale, 400ml vessel volumes) proved that, under a specified set of environmental conditions, granule growth can occur in an artificial environment. Yet these laboratory-scale vessels did not facilitate scale-up or the study thereof. This led to the main problem statement of this research project: namely to design, commission, and optimise benchscale bioreactors that will generate granulated anaerobic sludge in an incubation period of 20 days. These units should also facilitate in the determining of parameters that will assist in the design of a scale-up to a UASB granule producing reactor of economically viable size. Two bench-scale reactors were initially designed specifically to “mimic” the motion found in the laboratory-scale vessels. The results from these initial reactors proved that granulation cannot only be enhanced, but granules can actually be cultivated from dispersed anaerobic sludge in a larger artificial environment over an incubation period of only 20 days. The results were still far from satisfactory, as the granules produced were irregular in shape and the yield of usable granules (2.2 kg/m3 reactor volume) insufficient. A third test reactor was designed to “mimic” roller table movement and baffles were included. These results were much better and the yield was 4.4 kg/m3 reactor volume at a baffle tipspeed of 0.0055 m/s. The optimisation was extended further to include the inoculation sludge and the feed medium. A C:N:P ratio of 10:1:4 proved to yield the best results. Monovalent anions, hydrogen concentration and a pH-level outside the 6.5 to 7.2 range evidently had an inhibitory effect on the granulation rate. After the optimisation study the third test unit produced a usable granule yield of 15.2 kg/m3 reactor volume over the 20-day incubation period. The incubation period can be separated into 3 distinct phases, namely the acidification, stabilisation and growth phases. From the mass balance it was found that most of the COD and nutrients were used for ECP production in the acidification phase. During the stabilisation phase, the COD and nutrients were mostly used for nucleus formation, and finally in the growth phase the COD was used for granule growth. To study the effect the internal surface area of the reactor has on the granulation process, 3 scale-down versions of the third test unit were constructed. Within the studied range, a yield of usable granules of 40 kg/m2 reactor internal surface area was obtained.

Thesis (PhD (Food Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / In the absence of anaerobic granules, anaerobically digested sewage sludge is frequently used to seed industrial upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactors. Because of its flocculent nature, start-up with digested sludge instead of granular sludge proceeds much slower and presents various operational problems. Any manner in which the granulation of digested sludge can be enhanced would benefit UASB reactor start-up and application in developing countries such as South Africa. The main objective of this dissertation was to improve granulation and reduce UASB reactor start-up by using pre-treated digested sludge as seed. The sludge was pre-treated based on the batch granulation-enhancement model of Britz et al. (2002). The main aim of the model was to improve extracellular polymer (ECP) production of lactate-utilising populations by applying short-term controlled organic overloading in a mechanically agitated environment. The batch granulation-enhancement (pre-treatment) process was applied to an ECP-producing digester strain, Propionibacterium jensenii S1. Non-methanogenic aggregates were formed when batch units were incubated on a roller-table instead of a linear-shake platform. Larger, more stable aggregates were obtained in the presence of apricot effluent medium. Preliminary batch granulation-enhancement studies confirmed that using the roller-table as mixing system had a positive influence on batch granulation-enhancement. The roller-table showed the most potential for handling larger volumes in comparison to a linear-shake waterbath and linear-shake platform. The addition of 450 mg.L-1 Fe2+ at the start of the study also influenced aggregate numbers positively. These studies revealed that pre-treatment results varied depending on the seed sludge source. A denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) method was applied for the detection of Archaea in digested sludges and UASB granules. In addition, a methanogenic marker containing methanogens important to the granulation process was constructed to aid identification. The positive influence of DMSO and “touchdown” PCR on the elimination of artifactual double bands in DGGE fingerprints were also demonstrated. Results revealed that only one of the four digested sludges tested contained Methanosaeta concilii (critical to granular nuclei formation) while it was present in all the UASB granules regardless of substrate type. Four digested sludges were obtained from stable secondary digesters. DGGE indicated the presence of M. concilii in all sludges. The Athlone 4Sb-sludge was the only sludge which exhibited measurable methanogenic activity during substrate dependent activity testing. The ST-sludge showed the highest increase in volatile suspended solids (VSS) particles ≥0.25 mm2. Laboratory-scale UASB reactor start-up was done with both sludges and start-up proceeded better in the Athlone 4Sb-reactor. Athlone 4Sb-sludge batches were pre-treated in a rolling-batch reactor in the presence of either lactate or sucrose and used to seed lab-scale UASB reactors B (sucrose seed) and C (lactate seed). Start-up efficiencies were compared to a control (Reactor A). Overall Reactor B was more efficient that the control. At the end of the study the Reactor B sludge had a higher methanogenic activity than the control reactor. It also had the highest increase in VSS ≥1.0 mm2. Pre-treatment of digested sludge in the presence of sucrose, therefore, aided granulation and reduced UASB reactor start-up time.