Copy of author's previously presented paper inserted. Bibliography: leaves 187-218. This thesis aims to increase knowledge essential for conservation biology and for focused and efficient breeding of banksias. Interspecific hybridisation is assessed as a potential breeding tool, and for the assessment of species relationships within the genus. Species relationships within Banksia are also assessed using molecular techniques. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers are assessed for their usefulness at various taxonomic levels within the genus. The results indicate a close relationship between Banksia and Dryandra, which are sister genera in the tribe Banksiae, family Proteaceae.

<p>This thesis described socioeconomic inequalities in fruit and vegetable consumption in Stockholm County.<strong> </strong>A comparative descriptive analysis was carried out with the use of secondary data from the 2006 Stockholm County Public Health Survey. The data was analyzed through cross tabulations that were conducted in SPSS.<strong> </strong>The findings showed that people with high socioeconomic position consumed fruit and vegetables more frequently than those of low socioeconomic position. Differences in fruit and vegetable consumption were found for the three measures of socioeconomic position; education, occupation and income. These differences were pronounced to a larger extent across different education levels compared to levels of occupation and income. Further research is needed to investigate which factors may explain the observed differences.</p>

No description available.

Novel plastic sheets and foams from vegetable oil-based monomers were produced. These new polyurethanes were synthesized from aromatic polyols, with erucic acid as the starting material. These monomers have the unique feature of containing an aromatic ring which was hypothesized to improve the rigidity of the polyurethane matrices and the overall physical properties of the plastics and foams. The benefits of the aromatic ring were proposed to be enhanced due to three terminal primary hydroxyl groups within the structure of the polyols. Reactions to produce hexasubstituted benzene derivatives containing alcohol groups in positions 1,2,4- and 1,3,5- around the benzene ring were suitably scaled up to provide amounts necessary for polyurethane production and characterization. These isomers (asymmetric and symmetric triols) were separated using chromatography. The pure triols were crosslinked with 4,4-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate) into polyurethanes sheets (asymmetric and symmetric polyurethane respectively). The physico-chemical properties of these PUs were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction,, differential scanning calorimetry dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and tensile analysis. The asymmetric polyurethane sheet and the symmetric polyurethane sheet differed in their glass transition temperatures and crosslinking densities. This variation could be explained by the differences in crosslinking densities, related to the increase in steric hindrance between adjacent hydroxyl groups of the asymmetric triol monomers. It was found that both polyurethanes had similar mechanical and thermal properties. Due to the similar properties of the asymmetric polyurethane and symmetric polyurethane sheets, the monomers were combined together in order to synthesize PU foams. The physical properties of these foams were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and were analyzed for close cell content and compression strength. The effect of the benzene ring in the monomer structure on the physical properties of these new polyurethane foams was mainly compared with high density canola polyurethane foams previously investigated. It was demonstrated that the physical properties of polyurethane foams made with aromatic monomers are comparable to those made with aliphatic monomers when enhanced with glycerol. / Bioresource and Food Engineering

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005. / Restricted until October 2006. Bibliography: leaves 108-134.

This thesis described socioeconomic inequalities in fruit and vegetable consumption in Stockholm County. A comparative descriptive analysis was carried out with the use of secondary data from the 2006 Stockholm County Public Health Survey. The data was analyzed through cross tabulations that were conducted in SPSS. The findings showed that people with high socioeconomic position consumed fruit and vegetables more frequently than those of low socioeconomic position. Differences in fruit and vegetable consumption were found for the three measures of socioeconomic position; education, occupation and income. These differences were pronounced to a larger extent across different education levels compared to levels of occupation and income. Further research is needed to investigate which factors may explain the observed differences.

Vegetable oils have been researched as alternative source of energy for many years because they have proven themselves as efficient fuel sources for diesel engines when used in the form of biodiesel, vegetable oil–diesel blends, vegetable oil-water-diesel blends and mixtures thereof. However, very few studies involving the use of emulsified low grade alcohols in straight vegetable oils, as fuels for combustion have been published. Even, the published literature involves the use of emulsified fuels only for compression ignition diesel engines. Through this project, an attempt has been made to suggest the use of alcohol-in-vegetable oil emulsions (AVOE) as an alternate fuel in stationary burners like electric utility boiler producing steam for electricity generation and more dynamic systems like diesel engines. The main goal of this study is to understand the effect of the combustion of different methanol-in-canola oil emulsions, swirl angle and equivalence ratio on the emission levels of NOx, unburned hydrocarbons (UHC), CO and CO2. The 30 kW furnace facility available at Coal and Biomass Energy Laboratory at Texas A & M University was modified using a twin fluid atomizer, a swirler and a new liquid fuel injection system. The swirler blades were positioned at 60° and 51° angles (with respect to vertical axis) in order to achieve swirl numbers of 1.40 and 1.0, respectively. The three different fuels studied were, pure canola oil, 89-9 emulsion [9 percent methanol – in – 89 percent canola oil emulsion with 2 percent surfactant (w/w)] and 85-12.5 emulsion [12.5 percent methanol – in – 85 percent canola oil (w/w) emulsion with 2.5 percent surfactant]. All the combustion experiments were conducted for a constant heat output of 72,750 kJ/hr. One of the major findings of this research work was the influence of fuel type and swirl number on emission levels. Both the emulsions produced lower NOx, unburned (UHC) hydrocarbon and CO emissions than pure canola oil at both swirl numbers and all equivalence ratios. The emulsions also showed higher burned fraction values than pure oil and produced more CO2. Comparing the performance of only the two emulsions, it was seen that the percentage amount of methanol added to the blend had a definite positive impact on the combustion products of the fuel. The higher the percentage of methanol in the emulsions, the lesser the NOx, UHC and CO emissions. Of all the three fuels, 85-12.5 emulsion produced the least emissions. The vorticity imparted to the secondary air by the swirler also affected the emission levels. Increased vorticity at higher swirl number led to proper mixing of air and fuel which minimized emission levels at SN = 1.4. The effect of equivalence ratio on NO_x formation requires a more detailed analysis especially with regards to the mechanism which produces nitrogen oxides during the combustion of the studied fuels.

Whipping creams are oil-in-water emulsion which by whipping can be formed to a foam by the incorporation of air into the system. Traditionally whipping creams are made out of milk but today imitation whipping creams based on vegetable fat has gained a large share of the marked due to their many benefits compared to traditionally whipping creams. Imitation whipping creams are both cheaper and more flexible than traditionally creams. By vary the characteristics of the fat system and the cream recipe the properties of the imitation creams can be adapted to fit the purpose of a specific product. The aim of this thesis was to increase the understanding of how different types of fat systems and other ingredients affect the properties of imitation whipping creams based on vegetable fat. This was done by studying three vegetable fat systems with different physicochemical properties. The properties of the fat systems were characterized and the three fat systems were then used for making different imitation whipping creams. The properties of the creams were characterized and the properties of the fat systems and the creams were assessed and compared with each other. The study showed that the fat characteristics that generally seem to have the highest impact on the properties of whipping creams are the structure, the solid fat content and the crystallization temperature of the fat. A fat solution with a hard structure, a high crystallization temperature and a high solid fat content at a wide range of temperatures overall seem to provide the whipping creams with the best properties. This as these fat properties provide the creams with a high foam stability, a high overrun and a short whipping time. This study has also shown that other ingredients than the fat systems provide the creams with diverging properties. This is best shown by the results of the freeze-thaw stability which indicate that a recipe with a high amount of sugar seem to provide the whipping creams with good freeze-thaw stability. Other properties of the whipping creams also seem to be very much influenced by other ingredients than the fat systems but further studies are needed to provide clarity to the complexity of the interplay of the ingredients in whipped creams.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes special report study entitled: Vegetable handling for wholesale vegetable market at Cheung Sha Wan. Includes bibliographical references.