No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Bioprocesses carried out for the production of fuels and other value-added co-products require effective process control strategies. The objective of this research is to apply Titrimetric Off-Gas Analysis (TOGA) for the on-line estimation of fermentation end products using Clostridium thermocellum. The hydrogen ion production, gaseous H2 and CO2, soluble H2 and CO2, as well as ethanol in the liquid phase and vapour phase, were monitored. All parameters, except the dissolved gases, showed good correlation with concurrent off-line analysis. The resulting mass and electron balances were close to theoretical values, and not significantly different from those determined using off-line analysis. Liquid-to-gas mass transfer limitations caused supersaturation of H2(aq) for a wide-range of operating conditions, and on average, ranged between 8-14 times the expected value at thermodynamic equilibrium. The supersaturation of CO2(aq) was conditional, and could be alleviated by increased sparging at agitation such that no significant mass transfer limitation was present. Simultaneous data on ethanol, CO2, and H2 could be obtained with the MIMS probe placed adjacent to the liquid surface in the reactor headspace. From this data, a metabolic model was proposed for the on-line estimation of formate and acetate using a mass balance and an electron balance. The model estimated formate concentrations with reasonable accuracy. Acetate predictions agreed with the qualitative trends, but the concentrations were inaccurate in comparison with off-line analysis. It was demonstrated that the sensor could provide on-line information on all major end-products synthesized by C. thermocellum. In conclusion, TOGA is a valuable instrument for the on-line monitoring and study of fermentation processes for cellulosic biofuels production

In 2008, the Manitoba government implemented an electronic monitoring (EM) project for high-risk automobile theft offenders. To evaluate this program, youth in the program were matched with other high-risk auto theft offenders who had not been put on EM. Dimensions including characteristics, daily contacts and criminal histories were examined between groups. Interviews were also conducted with offenders who had been on EM and with program staff and stakeholders. The results of the evaluation indicated a small change in criminal history for the EM group for auto theft, technical and combined offenses. Since the Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy (WATSS) began in 2005, there has been a decrease of approximately 11,000 auto thefts. Notably, only a very small part of this number could be attributed to the EM program. Electronic monitoring as an intervention can be a complementary program when offered in accompaniment with other WATSS and Manitoba Youth Correctional Services (MYCS) programs.

According to the Multiprocess Theory (Einstein and McDaniel, 1990), prospective memory is supported by two separate cognitive processes: monitoring and spontaneous retrieval. Successful monitoring during prospective memory tasks requires attention to be divided between separate stimuli and the attention needs to be sustained throughout the course of the task. However, this theoretical account also allows for prospective memory in the absence of monitoring, as in cases where memory is retrieved spontaneously in response to some cue. In the course of this study, support for the Multiprocess Theory has been found. Using a dual-task paradigm, prospective memory targets were displayed during a lexical decision task where participants were required to make a word/nonword decision to letter strings. Prospective memory targets were found using both monitoring and spontaneous retrieval, although displaying the target in the focus of attention or not did not differentially induce monitoring. A small increase from 2% target presentation rates (Experiments 1 through 3) to 3% target presentation rates (Experiment 4) did produce evidence of task interference that reflects monitoring; however, increasing target presentation rates to 5% did not increase reaction times above those found with 3% target presentation rates. Focal prospective memory targets (words) had higher accuracy rates than nonfocal prospective memory targets (words starting with letter "g"). Inhibiting responses to the lexical decision task to respond to prospective memory targets encouraged priorities to shift attention to the lexical decision task and increased the speed of lexical decision responding across the extended task. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that sustained attention is identical to, or even a significant component of, monitoring. Sustained attention was not necessary to accomplish the prospective memory action, as variables affecting vigilance were not found to influence prospective-memory performance in the extended version of the dual-task paradigm used in this experiment. In Experiment 3, draining attention resources did negatively affect lexical decision reaction times and prospective memory performance with focal targets, but not with nonfocal targets. The strength of the lexical decision task routine was manipulated by varying the number of lexical decision practice trials given before the dual-task in Experiment 5. The strength of the routine did not affect task interference for focal or nonfocal targets. Overall, monitoring did not follow the sustained-attention pattern observed in vigilance. Prospective memory can be performed utilizing both cognitive mechanisms of monitoring and spontaneous retrieval.

No description available.

No description available.

Accelerated warming of high latitude systems of the northern hemisphere is expected to cause significant changes to the hydro-ecology of Arctic lakes. To record comprehensive and meaningful baseline hydrological, limnological, and ecological conditions to which future change can be compared, all available environmental information generated on Noell Lake, NWT was compiled and synthesized. Data included: physical and geographical characteristics (bathymetric and drainage basin attributes); general regional climatology; water quality (nutrients, major anions/cations, dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon); biological composition (fish community, macrophyte, phytoplankton, epiphyton and epipelon surveys) and seasonal patterns in primary productivity (as measured by chlorophyll-a (Chl-a)). A field-monitoring study was conducted from September 2010 to July 2013 assessing the application, reliability, and quality control/quality assurance of a newly developed automated buoy-based Arctic Lake Monitoring System (ALMS). The ALMS continuously measured a range of lake limnological and water quality parameters under both open-water and under-ice conditions. Overall, the ALMS provided a usable, uninterrupted record of changes in measured environmental, hydrological, and limnological parameters in both the epilimnion and hypolimnion. Noell Lake was determined to be spatially homogeneous with respect to the limnological measurements taken and, thus, the data recorded by the instrument arrays were determined to be representative of the lake as a whole. In addition to the measurements made by environmental sensors mounted on the buoy and mooring components, an augmentary array of in-situ sampling campaigns and controlled experiments were conducted to produce a continuous and comprehensive description of daily and seasonal changes to the hydrological and limnological conditions of Noell Lake. The continuous data series confirmed that Noell Lake is dimictic, with mixing events occurring in August and June, and hypoxic oxygen conditions occurring in March. Nutrient limitation experiments revealed that autotrophic productivity in Noell Lake was nitrogen-limited. Compiling data from existing literature involved >700 northern, high-latitude lakes; patterns in temporal and latitudinal changes in Arctic lake primary productivity (as measured by open-water, epilimnion Chl-a) and geochemistry were assessed. The key hypothesis tested was whether Arctic lakes are showing increased primary productivity (i.e., “greening”), through time and by latitude, similar to that documented for Arctic terrestrial systems. In general, significant decreases in lake Chl-a was observed in Arctic and sub-Arctic lakes over a ≈50 year time span. Separation of lakes by latitudinal bands revealed that trends in the lower Arctic region (60.00-69.99 Degrees North) showed a significant decreasing time trend, while high Arctic lakes displayed no trends. Corresponding temporal trends of total phosphorous (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) differed depending on the latitude of the lakes. Re-evaluation of the original northern-lake productivity models developed by Flanagan et al. (2003) through the use of the new, independent datasets (>700 lakes) as well as the addition of other environmental variables (DOC, dissolved inorganic carbon, lake depth, conductivity, and ice-cover) showed that the original models were valid and the most parsimonious in predicting variation in algal biomass in northern latitude lakes. Only measures of dissolved nutrients (TP, TN) and latitude are required to predict autotrophic water column productivity. / Graduate

The term “blue-sky eruption” (BSE) can be used to describe eruptions which are unexpected or have no detected precursory activity. Case study analyses indicate that they have a diverse range of characteristics and magnitudes, providing both direct and indirect hazards and occur in both under-developed and developed countries. BSEs can be a result of physical triggers (e.g. the lack of physically detectable precursors or a lack of understanding of the eruption model of the volcano), social triggers (such as an inadequate monitoring network), or a combination of the two. As the science of eruption forecasting is still relatively young, and the variations between individual volcanoes and individual eruptions are so great, there is no effective general model and none should be applied in the absence of a site-specific model. Similarly, as methods vary between monitoring agencies, there are no monitoring benchmarks for effective BSE forecasting. However a combination of seismic and gas emission monitoring may be the most effective. The United States began a hazard and monitoring review of their volcanoes in 2005. While the general principles of their review would be beneficial in a monitoring review of New Zealand’s volcanoes, differences in styles of volcanism, geographic setting and activity levels mean changes would need to be review to fully appreciate the risk posed by New Zealand’s volcanoes. Similarly, the monitoring benchmarks provided in the U.S. review may not be fully applicable in New Zealand. While advances in technology may ultimately allow the effective forecasting of some BSEs, the immediate threat posed by unexpected eruptions means that effective management and mitigation measures may be the only tools currently at our disposal to reduce the risks from BSEs.