This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of trimming the original external carcass surfaces from subprimals during fabrication on the reduction of surrogates for Escherichia coli O157:H7. Carcass sides from five cattle (n = 10 sides) were inoculated along the pattern hide opening before entering the blast chill cooler with a gelatin slurry containing a bacterial cocktail of three rifampicin-resistant, nonpathogenic E. coli Biotype I strains. Following a 48 h chill, sides were fabricated to produce eight subprimals (brisket, chuck, clod, rib, bottom round, top sirloin, short loin, and inside round). Microbiological samples were taken from the original carcass fat surface area, initial lean surface area, trimmed fat surface area (where applicable), and trimmed lean surface area (where applicable). Trimming of the external fat surfaces reduced (P < 0.05) microbiological counts on the newly exposed lean surfaces of all eight subprimals during fabrication. However, these data also indicated that fat and lean surfaces that were not initially exposed to contamination became contaminated during the fabrication process. Trimming external surfaces reduces levels of pathogens, but under normal fabrication processes, pathogens may still be spread to the newly exposed surfaces.

Over the past two decades, India has become an international hub of cross-border surrogacy. The extreme economic and cultural differences between international couples seeking surrogacy and the surrogates themselves, clinics compromising health of surrogates for profit, the stigmatisation of surrogacy in India, and the constant surveillance of these women living in a ‘surrogate house’, have raised concerns regarding the potentially negative psychological impact of surrogacy on Indian surrogates. The primary aims of the thesis were (i) to conduct a longitudinal assessment of surrogates’ psychological problems (anxiety, depression and stress) from pregnancy until several months after relinquishing the baby to the intended parents, (ii) to examine the nature of the bond formed between surrogates and the unborn baby and establish whether this prenatal bond contributes to their psychological problems, and (iii) to explore the experiences of surrogates during and post-surrogacy. Fifty surrogates were compared with a matched group of 69 expectant mothers during pregnancy. Of these, 45 surrogates and 49 compairson group of mothers were followed up 4-6 months after the birth. All surrogates were hosting pregnancies for international intended parents and had at least one child of their own. Data were obtained using standardised questionnaires and in-depth interviews and were analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Indian surrogates were found to be more depressed than the comparison group of mothers, both during pregnancy and after the birth. However, giving up the newborn did not appear to add to surrogates’ levels of depression. There were no differences between the surrogates and the expectant mothers in anxiety or stress during either phase of the study. The examination of risk factors for psychological problems among the surrogates showed that anticipation of stigma, experiences of social humiliation and receiving insufficient support during pregnancy were associated with higher levels of depression following the birth. With respect to bonding with the unborn child, surrogates experienced lower levels of emotional bonding (e.g. they interacted less, and wondered less about, the foetus), but exhibited higher levels of instrumental bonding (e.g. they adopted better eating habits and avoided unhealthy practices during pregnancy), than women who were carrying their own babies. Contrary to concerns, greater bonding with the unborn child was not associated with increased psychological problems post-relinquishment. All surrogates were able to give up the child. Meeting the intended parents after the birth positively contributed towards surrogates’ satisfaction with relinquishment whereas meeting the baby did not. The qualitative findings on surrogates’ experiences showed that the majority lacked basic medical information regarding surrogacy pregnancy; hid surrogacy from most people; felt positive and supported at the surrogate house; lived in uncertainty regarding whether or not they would be allowed to meet the intended parents and the baby; and did not actually get to meet them. These findings have important implications for policy and practice on surrogacy in the Global South.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第18867号 / 医博第3978号 / 新制||医||1008(附属図書館) / 31818 / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 鈴木 実, 教授 黒田 知宏, 教授 富樫 かおり / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Future thrusts for gasoline engine development can be broadly summarized into two categories: (i) efficiency improvements in conventional spark ignition engines, and (ii) development of advance compression ignition (ACI) concepts. Efficiency improvements in conventional spark ignition engines requires downsizing (and turbocharging) which may be achieved by using high octane gasolines, whereas, low octane gasolines fuels are anticipated for ACI concepts. The current work provides the essential combustion kinetic data, targeting both thrusts, that is needed to develop high fidelity gasoline surrogate mechanisms and surrogate complexity guidelines. Ignition delay times of a wide range of certified gasolines and surrogates are reported here. These measurements were performed in shock tubes and rapid compression machines over a wide range of experimental conditions (650 – 1250 K, 10 – 40 bar) relevant to internal combustion engines. Using the measured the data and chemical kinetic analyses, the surrogate complexity requirements for these gasolines in homogeneous environments are specified. For the discussions presented here, gasolines are classified into three categories: (i) Low octane gasolines including Saudi Aramco’s light naphtha fuel (anti-knock index, AKI = (RON + MON)/2 = 64; Sensitivity (S) = RON – MON = 1), certified FACE (Fuels for Advanced Combustion Engines) gasoline I and J (AKI ~ 70, S = 0.7 and 3 respectively), and their Primary Reference Fuels (PRF, mixtures of n-heptane and iso-octane) and multi-component surrogates. (ii) Mid octane gasolines including FACE A and C (AKI ~ 84, S ~ 0 and 1 respectively) and their PRF surrogates. Laser absorption measurements of intermediate and product species formed during gasoline/surrogate oxidation are also reported. (iii) A wide range of n-heptane/iso-octane/toluene (TPRF) blends to adequately represent the octane and sensitivity requirements of high octane gasolines including FACE gasoline F and G (AKI ~ 91, S = 5.6 and 11 respectively) and certified Haltermann (AKI ~ 87, S = 7.6) and Coryton (AKI ~ 92, S = 10.9) gasolines. To assess conditions where shock tubes may not be ideal devices for ignition delay measurements, this work also presents a detailed discussion on shock tube pre-ignition affected ignition data and the ignition regimes in homogeneous environments. The shock tube studies on pre-ignition and associated bulk ignition advance may help engines research community understand and control super-knock events.

No description available.

Thesis (MSc (Conservation Ecology and Entomology)--Stellenbosch University, 2007. / A systematic conservation assessment is the first phase of a systematic conservation planning protocol; it uses spatial data and representation targets for the setting of priority areas and the assessment of risk to biodiversity. This thesis describes the findings of investigations on the use of data in systematic conservation assessments. Conservation planning can be done at different spatial scales (from global to local). Systematic Conservation planning can be done at different spatial scales (from global to local). Systematic conservation assessments rely on the use of surrogates for biodiversity and often, as well, socioeconomic criteria. Biodiversity surrogates can be classified as taxonomic, community and environmental. In Chapter 2, a literature review was performed (i) to quantify the use of biodiversity surrogates and socio-economic criteria in conservation assessments; and (ii) to test the hypothesis that surrogates are chosen in respect to the hierarchical organisation of biodiversity. In other words, fine scale conservation assessments are correlated with taxonomic surrogates, large scale conservation assessments are correlated with environmental surrogates, and assemblage surrogates are assessed at an intermediary scale. The literature review was based on a structured survey of 100 ISI journal publications. The analysis revealed that spatial scale had a weak effect on the use of biodiversity surrogates in conservation assessments. Taxonomic surrogates were the most used biodiversity surrogates at all scales. Socioeconomic criteria were used in many conservation assessments. I argue that it is crucial that assemblage and environmental data be more used at larger spatial scales. The allocation of conservation resources needs to be optimised because resources are scarce. A conservation assessment can be a lengthy and expensive process, especially when conducted at finescale. Therefore the need to undertake a fine-scale conservation assessment, as opposed to a more rapid and less expensive broader one, should be carefully considered. The study of Chapter 3 assessed the complementarity between regional- and local-scale assessments and the implications on the choice of biodiversity features at both scales. The study was undertaken in Réunion Island. A biodiversity assessment was performed at a regional scale and measured against a finer-scale assessment performed over a smaller planning domain. Two datasets composed of species distributions, habitat patterns and spatial components of ecological and evolutionary processes were compiled as biodiversity surrogates at each scale. Targets for local-scale processes were never met in regional assessments, while threatened species and fragmented habitats were also usually missed. The regional assessment targeting habitats represented a high proportion of local-scale species and habitats at target level (67%). On the contrary, the one targeting species was the least effective. The results highlighted that all three types of surrogates are necessary. They further suggested (i) that a spatial strategy based on a complementary set of coarse filters for regional-scale assessments and fine filters for local-scale ones can be an effective approach to systematic conservation assessments; and (ii) that information on habitat transformation should help identify where efforts should be focused for the fine-scale mapping of fine filters. Together with priority-area setting, the identification of threatened biodiversity features has helped to prioritise conservation resources. In recent years, this type of assessment has been applied more widely at ecosystem-level. Ecosystems can be categorised into critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable, following the terminology of the IUCN Red List of threatened species. Various criteria such as extent and rate of habitat loss, species diversity and habitat fragmentation can be used to identify threatened ecosystems. An approach based only on the criterion of the quantification of habitat loss was investigated in Chapter 4 for the Little Karoo, South Africa. Habitat loss within ecosystem type is quantified on land cover information. The study analysed the sensitivity of the categorisation process to ecosystem and land cover mapping, using different datasets of each. Three ecosystem classifications and three land cover maps, of different spatial resolutions, were used to produce nine assessments. The results of these assessments were inconsistent. The quantification of habitat loss varied across land cover databases due to differences in their mapping accuracy. It was reflected on the identification of threatened ecosystems of all three ecosystem classifications. Less than 14% of extant areas were classified threatened with the coarsest land cover maps, in comparison to 30% with the finest one; and less than 9% of ecosystem types were threatened with the coarsest land cover maps, but between 15 and 23% were threatened with the finest one. Furthermore, the results suggested that the identification of threatened ecosystems is more sensitive to the accuracy of habitat loss quantification than the resolution of the ecosystem classification. Detailed land cover mapping should be prioritised over detailed ecosystem maps for this exercise. This thesis highlighted the importance of ecosystems and processes as biodiversity surrogates in conservation assessments and suggested that results of conservation assessments based on these data, should be more widely presented in published articles. Finally, it also made apparent the important role of mapping habitat transformation for systematic conservation plans.

Barriers like financial constraints and travel logistics prevent Indigenous people from accessing their cultural heritage objects held by national, state, and local institutions. This can be overcome using photogrammetry to create 3D models of cultural heritage objects and housing them in virtual museums accessible via Internet-capable devices. This pilot project, working with the White Earth Band of Ojibwe on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota, followed appropriate museology and communities of practice approaches to meet the concerns, desires, and budget of the tribal members to provide them unfettered access to cultural heritage objects. Because this approach presents cultural objects as 3D models, which can be 'manipulated' as if physically held, it offers visitors more meaningful engagement than they would have with single-dimension, restricted access museum displays. This project focusing on ten cultural heritage objects serves as a foundation on which similar digital museum projects initiated by Indigenous communities can build. / May 2017

Les premières étapes d'une conception fiabiliste impliquent la formulation de critères de performance et de contraintes de fiabilité d'une part, et le choix d'une représentation des incertitudes d'autre part. Force est de constater que, le plus souvent, des aspects de performance ou de fiabilité conditionnant la solution optimale ne seront pas connus ou seront négligés lors des premières phases de conception. De plus, les techniques de réduction des incertitudes telles que les tests additionnels et la reconception ne sont pas pris en compte dans les calculs de fiabilité initiaux. Le travail exposé dans ce manuscrit aborde la conception optimale de systèmes sous deux angles : 1) le compromis entre performance et coût généré par les tests supplémentaires et les reconceptions et, 2) l'identification de multiples solutions optimales (dont certaines locales) en tant que stratégie contre les erreurs initiales de conception. Dans la première partie de notre travail, une méthodologie est proposée pour estimer l'effet sur la performance et le coût d'un produit d'un test supplémentaire et d'une éventuelle reconception. Notre approche se base, d'une part, sur des distributions en probabilité des erreurs de calcul et des erreurs expérimentales et, d'autre part, sur une rêgle de reconception a priori. Ceci permet d'estimer a posteriori la probabilité et le coût d'un produit. Nous montrons comment, à travers le choix de politiques de prochain test et de re-conception, une entreprise est susceptible de contrôler le compromis entre performance et coût de développement.Dans la seconde partie de notre travail, nous proposons une méthode pour l'estimation de plusieurs solutions candidates à un problème de conception où la fonction coût et/ou les contraintes sont coûteuses en calcul. Une approche pour aborder de tels problèmes est d'utiliser un métamodèle, ce qui nécessite des évaluations de points en diverses régions de l'espace de recherche. Il est alors dommage d'utiliser cette connaissance seulement pour estimer un optimum global. Nous proposons une nouvelle approche d'échantillonnage à partir de métamodèles pour trouver plusieurs optima locaux. Cette méthode procède par partitionnement adaptatif de l'espace de recherche et construction de métamodèles au sein de chaque partition. Notre méthode est testée et comparée à d'autres approches d'optimisation globale par métamodèles sur des exemples analytiques en dimensions 2 à 6, ainsi que sur la conception d'un bouclier thermique en 5 dimensions. / The initial stages of reliability-based design optimization involve the formulation of objective functions and constraints, and building a model to estimate the reliability of the design with quantified uncertainties. However, even experienced hands often overlook important objective functions and constraints that affect the design. In addition, uncertainty reduction measures, such as tests and redesign, are often not considered in reliability calculations during the initial stages. This research considers two areas that concern the design of engineering systems: 1) the trade-off of the effect of a test and post-test redesign on reliability and cost and 2) the search for multiple candidate designs as insurance against unforeseen faults in some designs. In this research, a methodology was developed to estimate the effect of a single future test and post-test redesign on reliability and cost. The methodology uses assumed distributions of computational and experimental errors with re-design rules to simulate alternative future test and redesign outcomes to form a probabilistic estimate of the reliability and cost for a given design. Further, it was explored how modeling a future test and redesign provides a company an opportunity to balance development costs versus performance by simultaneously designing the design and the post-test redesign rules during the initial design stage.The second area of this research considers the use of dynamic local surrogates, or surrogate-based agents, to locate multiple candidate designs. Surrogate-based global optimization algorithms often require search in multiple candidate regions of design space, expending most of the computation needed to define multiple alternate designs. Thus, focusing on solely locating the best design may be wasteful. We extended adaptive sampling surrogate techniques to locate multiple optima by building local surrogates in sub-regions of the design space to identify optima. The efficiency of this method was studied, and the method was compared to other surrogate-based optimization methods that aim to locate the global optimum using two two-dimensional test functions, a six-dimensional test function, and a five-dimensional engineering example.

MSc., Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011 / Little is known about the longevity of grassland suffrutex plants and the relationship between longevity and plant morphological structures and seedling growth strategies. The aim of this study was to determine the longevity of four grassland suffrutex plant species, namely Berkheya insignis, Callilepis laureola, Protea insignis and Tephrosia kraussiana. Seed viability, seedling growth, morphology, habitat and population structure and demography were also assessed and related to plant age. The rhizomes, seeds (if available) and canopies of B. insignis, C. laureola, P. simplex and T. kraussiana were removed from a site near Port Edward in the Pondoland region, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in April 2008. Seeds were available for P. simplex and T. kraussiana only. Seed germination and viability were tested in the field and laboratory using germination trials and tetrazolium tests. Greenhouse and field grown seedlings were used to monitor seedling growth and to record seedling morphology. The aerial and rhizome morphologies of adult plants excavated from the field were also recorded. The largest of these rhizomes were aged using radiocarbon dating. Attempts were made to develop morphological surrogates for plant age as no method currently exists. Plant density, demographies, number of inflorescences and various environmental variables of wild populations of B. insignis, C. laureola, P. simplex and T. kraussiana were sampled from the Red Desert Nature Reserve and the Umtamvuna Nature Reserve. Species morphologies varied, however important similarities suggest convergent evolution. These included a single vertical main stem rhizome with multiple side branches, early rhizome development in seedlings, and high root: shoot ratios. Seed viability was high in the laboratory but low seedling emergence was observed in the field. Seedling growth was rapid for T. kraussiana and slow for P. simplex. The population stage structure for all four species comprised primarily adults with few or no juveniles. Wild population plant height and main stem diameter followed normal distributions. Number of stems, basal area, canopy area and the number of floral structures had distributions favouring the smaller size classes. Soil P, N, K and organic carbon were important soil nutrients in a PCA analysis of the habitats of the four species. Radiocarbon dating yielded the following ages: B. insignis: 49-51 years, C. laureola: 49-50 years, P. simplex: 49-51 years and T. kraussiana: 51 years. There was a significant relationship between rhizome mass and canopy area, basal area, height, number of stems and main stem diameter. Since rhizome mass had a positive relationship with age- a relationship between age and aerial structures is likely. Therefore, creating surrogates for age may be possible. Overall, these species have moderate longevity, are poor seed producers with possibly slow population growth and are closely associated with soil nutrients. Therefore, these and other suffrutex species are particularly vulnerable to habitat destruction and climate change. The results of this study indicate that there needs to be a greater focus on below ground growth during ecological assessments in order to better understand the ecology of our diverse grassland biome plants.

La pyrolyse de sept molécules modèles de composés toxiques (le diéthyl éther, le bromoéthane, le chloroacétate de méthyle, le nitrométhane, le nitrate d’isopropyle, la diéthylamine, le chlorobenzène) a été étudiée lors de la thèse dans deux types de réacteur à l’échelle du laboratoire : un réacteur parfaitement agité (RPA) en silice et le réacteur tubulaire (RT) en alumine. Ce dernier pilote a été développé durant ce travail pour réaliser des études à des températures supérieures à 1200 K. Les profils axiaux de température dans le réacteur tubulaire ont été mesurés pour en tenir compte lors des simulations. Parallèlement à l’utilisation de la Chromatographie en phase Gazeuse, une nouvelle technique analytique pour notre laboratoire a été utilisée : la spectroscopie Infra-rouge à Transformée de Fourier (IRTF) pour laquelle une méthode d’analyse a été développée. Au cours de ces différentes études, des modèles cinétiques détaillés ont été développés à l’exception de la diethylamine. Globalement, ces modèles cinétiques reproduisent bien dans chaque étude la décomposition du réactif en fonction de la température et la formation des produits majoritaires déterminés expérimentalement. Etant donné le manque de données cinétiques dans la littérature pour la pyrolyse ou l’oxydation de composés bromés, chlorés et azotés, de nombreux paramètres cinétiques ont été estimés dans la plupart des modèles cinétiques développés / The pyrolysis of seven surrogates of toxic compounds (diethyl ether, bromoethane, methyl chloroacetate, nitromethane, isopropyl nitrate, diethylamine and chlorobenzene) was studied during the thesis in two different types of reactors at the laboratory scale: a silica jet-stirred reactor (JSR) and an alumina tubular reactor (TR) to carry out studies at temperatures above 1200 K. Axial temperature profiles were measured and were used to take into account the temperature gradient in the TR. In addition to gas chromatography, a new analytical technique for our laboratory was used: The Fourier Transform InfraRed Spectroscopy (FTIR), for which an analysis method has been developed. As part of the study, detailed kinetics models were developed except for the diethylamine. Overall, these kinetics models well predict the reactivity temperature dependence and the formation of the major products determined experimentally. Since there is a lack of kinetic data in the literature for the pyrolysis and oxidation of brominated, chlorinated and nitrogen compounds, many kinetic parameters were estimated in most of the kinetic models developed