Islet transplantation has emerged as a promising cell-based therapy for the treatment of diabetes, but its clinical efficacy remains limited by deleterious host responses that underlie islet destruction. In this dissertation, we describe the assembly of cell surface-supported thin films that confer molecular-level control over the composition and biophysicochemical properties of the islet surface with implications for improving islet engraftment. Specifically, the process of layer-by-layer (LbL) polymer self assembly was employed to generate nanothin films of diverse architecture with tunable properties directly on the extracellular surface of individual islets. Importantly, these studies are the first to report in vivo survival and function of nanoencapsulated cells, and have helped establish a conceptual framework for translating the diverse applications of LbL films to cellular interfaces. Additionally, through proper design of film constituents, coatings displaying ligands and bioorthogonally reactive handles may be generated, providing a modular strategy for incorporating exogenously derived regulators of host responses alongside native constituents of the islet surface. Towards this end, a strategy was developed to tether thrombomodulin to the islet surface in a site-specific manner, thereby facilitating local generation of the powerful anti-inflammatory agent, activated protein C. Collectively, this work offers novel biomolecular strategies for cell surface engineering with broad biomedical and biotechnological applications in cell-based therapeutics and beyond.

There are currently several potential threats to the long-term habitability of many atolls and islands in the Pacific Islands region, with environmental change appearing the most serious. Minimal attention has been given to the possibility that migrants forced from uninhabitable islands will require resettlement en masse, and assessing past resettlements is crucial to planning for what the future my hold. Population resettlement is not a new phenomenon in the Pacific Islands region, yet recently it has been neglected by academics. This study builds on past work by Bedford and assesses the current literature in the fields of population resettlement and forced migration, finding that the situation threatening the Pacific Islands is not adequately addressed by any of the planning or analytical tools available. A model based predominantly on the work of Cernea and Muggah was developed by the author to account for this theoretical shortcoming. The model is used to assess the past cases of resettlement from Banaba and Bikini Atoll, identifying variables which influence the success of resettlement. Conclusions are drawn from the case studies and recommendations for how to avoid negative outcomes in future resettlements are made. This study advances the current literature, provides an in-depth analysis of pressing yet hitherto avoided issues, and can inform both foreign and domestic policy planning in not just Pacific Island states, but receiver states and other potentially effected islands or atolls regardless of region.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, School of Anthropology, Geography and Environmental Studies, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 357-389).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 303-334).

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... The learning model developed in this study is the ISLANDS learning model. ISLANDS stands for Identification, Setting, List, Application, Note, Duplication, and Scrutinize.This learning model provides space for students to learn independently, it is by searching and finding information about tourism objects and Phrases according to the material, working in groups to practice collaboration skills, sharing information and knowledge, and sharing tasks and responsibilities, leadership, solving problems, actively speaking in German with the help of teachers and native speakers and only focusing on local wisdom which is of course very well known to them, making it easier for them to absorb the material provided by the teacher. In addition, students are also given the opportunity to evaluate the process and their learning outcomes. Thus, it is hoped that this interactive, communicative, active, independent and local wisdom-oriented learning model can increase students’ learning motivation and their mastery of the German language, especially guiding abilities. [Aus: Introduction]

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No description available.

Hybridization, the process of interbreeding between individuals of different species, is one method by which plants and animals adapt to a changing environment. One example of such adaptation through hybridization may be occurring on the California Channel Islands with two species of Castilleja. While United State Geological Survey (USGS) researchers have been studying the populations of Castilleja affinis and Castilleja mollis to determine if hybridization is occurring on Santa Rosa Island since the early 1990s, up until this point primarily overt phenotypic characteristics have been used to differentiate between the two species. Genetic methods of differentiation were adopted to confirm that hybridization is in fact occurring on the island, possibly in response to climate change. Hybrids may be expanding into areas once occupied by pure C. mollis, because they might carry some of C. affinis’ traits like an ability to survive warmer, drier climates as parts of the island are starting to become warmer and drier. In this study, I have developed a cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences (CAPS) marker based on internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions to differentiate between the two species and hybrids and have applied these CAPS markers to genotype DNA samples isolated from 132 individuals. This protocol was used to determine the extent of hybridization on Santa Rosa Island in conjunction with ongoing surveys conducted by the USGS. Work focused on genotyping previously collected samples from two main sites on the island, which allowed confirmation that patterns observed based on phenotype in the field are supported by genetic data. In the future, findings will link genetic type with survivorship and growth data, to test whether hybrids perform differently than pure C. mollis. Broadly, this will determine if the two species are in fact hybridizing as a method for adapting to climate change, the most severe threat to Channel Island biodiversity.

An area of Shetland is examined in order to identify how Iron Age settlements might have related to each other. The study area contains two brochs. An inter-disciplinary approach is used to identify evidence for other Iron Age settlements and the information is presented as a model illustrating the pattern of settlement at different points during the Iron Age. A distinction is drawn between locations containing field archaeology and locations where occupation is predicted on the basis of evidence such as soil quality or place name. The whole model is then examined in order to identify patterns which may suggest changing relationships between settlements and groups of settlements, and the trends and influences behind these. Next an appraisal is made of the settlements' relative status and authority during Shetland's Early, Middle and Late Iron Age. By looking at the whole landscape through time - before, during and after the Iron Age - the brochs are set in a wider chronological context which takes into account the changing role that these highly visible monuments may have played as socio-economic focal points in a developing landscape. The outcome reveals complexity. Initially the brochs appear to be a focus of settlement patterns but by the end of the Late Iron Age they are rivalled by a non-broch area which shows signs of heightened Pictish influence. Elsewhere in Shetland at this period there is retrenchment to broch-settlements, raising the question of how far developments in the study area are unique to that location.