No description available.

In biology, the winter season is less studied than other seasons partly due to technical and logistical difficulties. The Arctic region is undergoing rapid changes with shorter and warmer winters, shorter snow duration and considerable changes in snow and ice cover as a result. Climate change also has other consequences such as added influx of DOC to aquatic systems which may have repercussions for aquatic food webs. This study investigates the effect of ice melt on benthic oxygen production and also investigates the pelagic counterpart. This study also investigates levels of light, CO2 and DOC and their impact on benthic and pelagic oxygen production in a simulated climate change scenario. Sampling for the study took place at the Umeå University Experimental Ecosystem Facility which exhibits artificial ponds, some of which had been treated to simulate changes caused by climate change such as added DOC or having been artificially heated during summers. Measurements for O2, CO2 and light (photosynthetic active radiation) were collected from these artificial ponds at three different occasions around the time of ice release: Iced over conditions, after ice melt and later in spring. Ice melt was not proven to result in a difference in benthic oxygen production, as no significance could be found between O2-production during ice-covered conditions and later during the spring. Ice release did however seem to be the cause of a significant effect in the pelagic habitat which exhibited higher O2-production during the period of ice release. A significant difference in O2-production was also found in the pelagic habitat between ponds treated with added DOC and ponds that were not, but no such difference could be found for the benthic habitat. This highlights important differences between the habitats. The study proposes that earlier times of ice release, higher levels of DOC and higher summer temperatures may perhaps influence the oxygen production in the benthic habitat to a lesser extent than the pelagic habitat in northern aquatic systems, but this requires further studies.

This study presents the design, construction and testing of an Outdoor Gas Emission Sampling (OGES) System capable of gas sampling and calorimetry in outdoor conditions with wind. In large-scale, outdoor fire tests, wind-driven emission plumes present a challenge in heat release rate quantification because the emission plume rises upward at an angle. A new gas sampling system with a flexible hood design and smaller control volume has been designed and tested. Bulk flow rate, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide concentrations are measured for heat release rate calculations. Two stages of experimentation are described. Experiments at intermediate-scale (indoor only) that were conducted to evaluate the performance of a smaller control volume for measurements, and large-scale (indoor and outdoor) experiments, to demonstrate feasibility in realistic field conditions as well as the new flexible hood design. Experiments show that the OGES system is capable of calculating the heat release rate of pool fires with an accuracy of 23% using oxygen consumption (OC) and carbon dioxide generation (CDG) methods. Further improvements of the OGES system for outdoor field deployment are also discussed.

abstract: Recidivism occurs when an individual is released from prison and then, through a violation of parole or a new offense, ends up back in prison. Durose and colleagues (2014) cite that 55.4% of individuals go back to prison after a five-year post release. Considerable attention has been focused on reducing the cycle of these individuals going back to prison. One of the attempts to remedy this issue is through offering pre-release programs for prison inmates. These programs seek to provide individuals skills that will reduce their likelihood of reoffending. But existing research shows that the effectiveness of these programs is limited. Moreover, few attempts have been made to look at differences between individual’s dosage of program participation. This thesis aims to determine if participation in a pre-release program reduces recidivism. Using data from the state’s Department of Corrections, there is a comparison of previously imprisoned individuals who participated in a pre-release employment program and those who declined participation, to understand if participation influences recidivism. Additionally, dosage of the center will be analyzed to determine whether length of program participation influenced recidivism. Participating in the program and a longer dose of the program should allow more time for the individual to learn the material and fully absorb what the program is offering such as skills and training. The results show that participation in the pre-release employment program did not significantly affect recidivism as individuals who went through the program were no less likely to be reincarcerated. In addition, a longer dosage of the program did not significantly influence recidivism among those who went through the program. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Criminology and Criminal Justice 2019

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an extremely useful molecule with applications in industrial manufacturing, synthetic procedures as a C1 building block, and as a potential pharmaceutical to produce anti-inflammatory effects and vasodilation. However, the toxicity associated with CO has prevented its full utilization. In order to safely handle CO, compounds and molecules have been developed that act as storage materials for the gas. Ideal storage platforms only release CO upon stimulation via a trigger. Light activation is the most desirable trigger as it can be regulated in terms of the intensity and the wavelength of light used. The majority of light-induced CO-storage platforms that have been reported to date consist of metal carbonyl compounds where CO is bound directly to a metal center. However, disadvantages inherent to this motif, such as potential toxicity associated with the metal and lack of characterization of CO release remnant(s), has pushed the research community to search for alternative CO storage structures. The research presented in this dissertation outlines our approach toward the development of safe-to-handle, light-induced CO release platforms. We use a flavonol structure similar to those found in fruits and vegetables, such as quercetin, as a light-induced CO release unit. Through changes in the structure of the flavonol and its surrounding environment in chemical compounds, we have found ways to strategically control the light-induced CO release reactivity of the flavonol. Chemical compounds developed in this project are of interest for studying the effects of CO in biological systems and applications in synthetic processes.

GTPases are found in all domains of life and are highly conserved. In eukaryotes, they serve as signalling molecules for many cellular processes. However, the prokaryotic GTPases play a very different role and are found to be associated with ribosome function. Among the 11 conserved GTPases, Der is the most interesting in prokaryotes. It possesses a unique structure with two GTPase domains (G-Domains) tethered by a variable length acidic linker and a carboxyl terminal KH-like domain. The exact function of Der is still under investigation and most of the data suggest that it is important for 50S ribosomal assembly or stability. In order to investigate the function of Escherichia coli Der (Ec-Der), expression plasmids for wild-type and mutated proteins were created and the proteins were successfully expressed. The expression of the mutant protein that lacked G-Domain 1 was toxic to the cells and it was found that some large ribosomal proteins were missing from the ribosomes of these cells. In addition, other macromolecular complexes such as the GroEL/GroES chaperonin appeared not to be assembled under these conditions. The activities of both wild-type and mutated proteins were also tested and found to be dependent on potassium ions (K+), which enhanced nucleotide binding. Additionally, intra-molecular control over nucleotide binding and release was also observed for Ec-Der. The in vitro selection of RNA aptamers with nanomolar affinity for Ec-Der produced aptamers that contained short variable sequences. These aptamers affected the growth of the E. coli cells and caused a change in cellular morphology that had been noted previously during Ec-Der over-expression. Ec-Der showed high affinity (nM) to both selected RNA and the unselected RNA library. The activity of Ec-Der and Era was inhibited in the presence of any sequence of RNA that has the length of greater than 16 nucleotides. RNA was also cross-linked to Ec-Der in the presence of GTP, but not GDP, suggesting that RNA was a regulator of the Ec-Der GTPase cycle. Based on these results, it is speculated that Ec-Der might be involved in more than one function. It may be acting at the level of the membrane (based on cellular morphology reported here and by Hwang and Inouye 2001) and may also take part in processes related to ribosome function. Regulation of protein activity by RNA length has not been predicted or described and this may represent a novel mean of regulation of the Era subfamily of GTPases.

Graduation date: 1998

Graduation date: 1993

This paper analyzes a proposed release controlmethodology, WIPLOAD Control (WIPLCtrl), using a transfer line case modeled by Markov process modeling methodology. The performance of WIPLCtrl is compared with that of CONWIP under 13 system configurations in terms of throughput, average inventory level, as well as average cycle time. As a supplement to the analytical model, a simulation model of the transfer line is used to observe the performance of the release control methodologies on the standard deviation of cycle time. From the analysis, we identify the system configurations in which the advantages of WIPLCtrl could be observed. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Thesis (LL. M.)--Judge Advocate General's School, U.S. Army, 1969. / "April 1969." Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 87). Also issued in microfiche.