No description available.

Molecular nanotechnology has matured in the last thirty-nine years from the germ of an idea by a Nobel Laureate physicist to a rapidly growing international research site with more than $1 billion dollars in annual investment. Although only recently accepted as "mainstream" by the R&D community, nanotechnology research is now populated by eminent researchers in such fields as physics, chemistry, molecular biology, and computer science. Refereed journal articles appear with increasing frequency. The National Academy of Sciences, the RAND Corporation, the Department of Defense, and the National Science Foundation have recently issued reports calling for more structure and organization in nanotechnology research to improve synergy and research efficiency. Others insist that centralization would restrict independent approaches, one of which might be the best path to follow. This thesis addresses the following issues for the emerging field of molecular nanotechnology: • The field is extensive, growing, and in need of policy review. • The parties responsible for strategic science and technology policy in the United States as well as the current infrastructure for R&D funding are identified. • External evaluators have appraised our current policy and found it lacking in some key respects. • There are substantive issues that might be considered by American policymakers in assessing nanotechnology policy strategies. • We need to find a way to reconcile the sometimes conflicting aims of peer review and interdisciplinarity. • A workable framework for a national nanotechnology program is identified. / Master of Science

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Nutrition / Koushik Adhikari / Coffee is the most consumed beverage after water and the second widely traded commodity after crude oil. In the past decade or so the market for coffee has exploded. It is no longer competitive for the coffee industry to offer consumers just a ‘good’ cup of coffee. Coffee is mainly consumed for enjoyment and offers consumers the desirable emotional experience. Currently not much work has been done to capture the emotion experiences elicited by coffee drinking, which led to our objective: to identify and assess the feelings that are stimulated by the coffee drinking experience through the development of an emotion lexicon. In the first part of the study, focus groups were utilized to generate and fine-tune a list of emotions that occur during the coffee drinking experience. The list of terms was further refined by check-all-that-apply method, resulting in 86 emotions, which included 39 terms from a recently published emotion lexicon for food. In the second part of the study, this lexicon of 86 emotions was used to evaluate six coffee samples of various origins and degrees of roasting with 94 consumers. The emotion intensities before and during drinking were assessed. Consumers were clustered into six clusters based on the acceptability scores, and the appropriate emotions for distinguishing the coffee samples were determined by Stepwise Regression Analysis, which resulted in 44 emotions. Emotion maps for each consumer cluster constructed using Principal Components Analysis revealed that each sample generated distinctive emotional responses, which varied across each cluster. The last part focused on identifying the sensory drivers of emotions to understand the consumer’s perceptions because emotional and sensory experiences determine acceptability and consumption of coffee. Two separate highly-trained panels (a general panel and a coffee panel) performed descriptive analysis of the six coffee samples. After comparing the two panels, the coffee-specific panel data was used to identify the sensory attributes that might be responsible for eliciting certain emotions in the consumers. For instance, darker roasts seem to elicit positive-high energy emotions. Overall, this study is a stepping stone for more in-depth product-specific emotion studies in future.

Master of Science / Food Science Institute / J. Scott Smith / Heterocyclic amines (HCAs) are a class of toxicological compounds that can be formed during heating of precursors, amino acids, creatinine, creatine, and sugars at high temperature cooking of muscle products. These potent mutagens are suspected to play a role in human cancers. The objective of this study was to investigate a practical method to reduce the amount of HCAs through marinating of beef steaks. We were interested in the potential health benefits of natural extracts containing polyphenols present in commercial marinades. HCAs were compared in marinated and unmarinated steaks. Four common HCAs were investigated: 2-amino-3,8- dimethyl-imidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx), 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenyl-imidazo[4,5- b]pyridine (PhIP), 1-methyl-9H-pyrido[4,3-b]-indol (harman), and 9H-pyrido[4,3-b]-indol (norharman). Steaks were marinated for one hour and grilled at 400 °F for 5 minutes at each side. Meat samples were extracted by solid phase extraction (SPE) and analysis with HPLC showed the significant decrease (p < 0.05) of sum of polar and nonpolar HCAs by 71% compared to untreated steaks. For confirmation of spices potency on reduction of HCA formation, the same experiment was applied to meat with the base of commercial marinade powders excluding the herbs and spices. Lesser reduction of HCAs were shown and in some cases no significant reduction occurred. HPLC analysis showed presence of considerable amount of natural phenolic antioxidants of carnosic acid, carnosol, and rosmarinic acid, which can be related to the reduction effects of HCA formation in commercial marinades. These results revealed that marinating meats before grilling with various spices/herbs containing antioxidants may reduce formation of mutagenic /carcinogenic HCAs markedly.

This thesis progresses from a ‘science and technology studies’ (STS) perspective to consider the ways that expert stakeholders perceive and communicate uncertainties and risks attached to carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (CCS) research and development, and how this compares with policy framings and regulatory requirements. The work largely falls within the constructivist tradition in sociology, but also draws on literature from the philosophy of science and policy-­‐oriented literature on risk and uncertainty. CCS describes a greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation technology system that involves the capture, pressurisation, transportation, geological injection and long-­‐term storage of CO2 as an alternative to atmospheric emissions. Only few and relatively small applications exist at the moment and research efforts are on going in many countries. The case for developing CCS towards large-­‐scale, commercial deployment has largely been presented as follows since the mid-­‐ 1990s: climate change mitigation is the developed world’s historical responsibility and must be addressed urgently; chief amongst GHGs is CO2, which makes up more than three quarters of emissions; the vast majority of CO2 is emitted from the combustion and gasification of hydrocarbons – oil, gas and coal – for energy generation; transitioning away from these high-­‐CO2 primary energy sources will likely take several decades at the least; therefore, CO2 capture systems should be designed for power and industrial emissions in developed countries, as well as emerging economies where energy suppliers will continue to construct relatively cheap and well understood high-­‐CO2 generation plants. The development of large-­‐scale CO2 capture has thus arisen from a concern with engineering a technological system to address a CO2 legacy in the developed world, and a high-­‐CO2 trajectory in developing/emerging countries, rather than on the back of purely scientific curiosity. And the potential for large-­‐scale development has been presented on the back of a variety of scientific and technical evidence, as well as the urgency of the policy objective and related aims. Research activities, often concentrated around technology demonstration projects, are the primary focus of the first part of this thesis. In the second part I consider the extent to which research has shaped policy developments, and how regulations have subsequently informed a more detailed research agenda. I follow a ‘grounded theory’ methodology as developed by Glaser and Strauss (1967) and take additional guidance from Glaser’s (1992) response to Strauss’ later writings as well as Charmaz (2006) and Rennie (2000), and use a mix of qualitative and quantitative analytical methods to assess my data. These include information from 60 semi-­‐structured interviews with geoscientists and policy stakeholders; close readings of scientific publications, newspaper articles, policies and regulatory documents; statistical evidence from a small survey; quantitative analysis of newspaper articles; and social network analysis (SNA) of scientific co-­‐authorship networks. Theory is drawn from STS literature that has been appropriate to address case study materials across each of the 7 substantive chapters. The first section of the thesis considers expert claims, with a focus on geoscience research, and draws on literature from the closely related ‘social shaping of technology’ (SCOT) and ‘sociology of scientific knowledge’ (SSK) programmes, as well as Nancy Cartwright’s philosophy of science. The second half of the thesis draws on the ‘co-­‐production’ framework and Wynne’s (1992) terminology of risk and uncertainty, to assess relations between risk assessment and risk management practices for CCS. I likewise draw on literature from the ‘incrementalist’ tradition in STS to ask whether and how understandings of technology risk, governance and deployment could be improved. Each chapter presents new empirical material analysed with distinct reference to theories covered in the introduction. Chapter 2 provides a general overview of the history, technology, economics and key regulatory issues associated with CCS, which will be useful to assess the theoretically driven arguments in subsequent chapters. Chapter 3 draws on the concept of ‘interpretive flexibility’ (Pinch and Bijker 1984) to assess a range of expert perceptions about uncertainties in science, technology and policy, and I develop a substantive explanation, ‘conditional inevitability’, to account for an epistemic tension between expressions of certitude and the simultaneous acknowledgement of several uncertainties. Chapter 4 continues the enquiry into stakeholder perceptions and draws on Haas’ notion of ‘epistemic communities’ (Haas 1992) to assess geoscientists’ work practices. I complement this framing with a close look at how uncertainty is treated in simulation modelling and how conclusions about storage safety are formulated, by drawing on Nancy Cartwright’s philosophy of science (Cartwright 1999) and Paul Edwards’ account of complex system modelling for climate change (Edwards 2010). The chapter shows how shared understandings of adequate evidence and common analytical tools have been leveraged to present relatively bounded and simple conclusions about storage safety, while geoscientists nevertheless recognise a high degree of uncertainty and contingency in analyses and results. Chapter 5 continues the focus on knowledge production in the geosciences and is supported by SNA data of workflow patterns in the Sleipner demonstration project. The analysis shows how a few actors have had a pivotal role in developing insights related to storage safety particularly on the back of seismic monitoring and other data acquired through industry partnerships. I therefore continue the chapter with a deconstruction of how seismic data has been used to make a case for the safety of CO2 storage, again drawing on Cartwright and others (Glymour 1983) to explain how individual findings are ‘bootstrapped’ when conclusions are formulated. I show how a general case about storage safety has emerged on the back of seismic data from Sleipner as well as a shared understanding among geoscientists of how to account for uncertainties and arrive at probable explanations. Chapter 6 considers to what extent scientific research has given shape to, and in turn been shaped by, CCS policy and regulations in the EU, drawing on Wynne’s (1992) terminology of risk and uncertainty as well as legal scholarship (Heyvaert 2011). I conclude that a ‘rational-­‐instrumental’ interpretation of uncertainty and precaution has furnished a compartmentalised understanding of risk assessment and risk management practices. Chapter 7 continues to look at the ways that risk assessment methodologies influence risk management practices through a case study of the Mongstad CCS demonstration project in Norway. I draw on ‘incrementalist’ literature (Lindblom 1979; Woodhouse and Collingridge 1993) to consider alternative conceptualisations of technology development and risk management when expectations clash with scientific uncertainties and criticism. Chapter 8 draws on insights from across STS (Downs 1972; Collingridge and Reeve 1986; Wynne 1992) to create a novel conceptual model that accounts for recent years’ developments in CCS governance. Here I conclude that setbacks and criticisms should be expected when analyses have largely presented CCS as a technical problem rather than a socially contingent system. Following Stirling (2010) I conclude that scientists and policymakers should instead strive to present complexity in their analyses and to engage with wider publics (Yearley 2006) when technical analysis is inseparable from socially mediated indeterminacies (Wynne 1992), to increase the chance of more successful engagement practices (Wynne 2006). The conclusions at the end of the thesis seek to draw out interpretive and instrumental lessons learned throughout.

<p>This dissertation study examines the role of the public library in fostering digital literacies in underserved Illinois communities. Over the course of two years I collected data on the library as an institution, and as a context, by investigating people, policies, activities and infrastructure related to how individuals learn, comprehend and apply digital technologies in collaboration with and in relation to the library. The data was collected during visits to libraries in sixteen locations around the state with significant levels of poverty, including a selection of rural localities and predominantly African American and Latino communities. Research methods included several kinds of site observation as well as interviews with librarians. As a collective whole, these case studies yield a series of interesting and surprising stories that reflect some of the connections between social roles and service roles, as well as the particular innovations and challenges present in underserved communities. </p><p> These findings support a number of related theories and initiatives, including the need to reconstruct digital literacy as digital <i>literacies </i>, in the plural, and the impetus to see them primarily as a function of community engagement, especially in underserved community settings. The data suggests that library roles related to digital literacy are changing in several substantial ways. First, libraries are moving beyond merely providing internet to proactively promoting assisted public computing. Second, they are shifting their view of themselves as a community space to include leadership in community networking. Finally, they are working to cultivate information experiences that progress beyond consumption to involve a dimension of generative learning. </p><p> When considered in conversation with existing scholarship, these findings have important implications: they show new avenues for research into diversity and social inclusion, critical discourse analysis and dynamic models for learning. They also suggest new directions for the field of Library and Information Science (LIS) and offer a compelling reason for libraries to both participate in and help guide movements and initiatives to promote digital literacies. </p>

Self-tracking practices are growing in popularity worldwide. From heart-rate monitoring to mood tracking, many believe that wearable technologies are making their users more mindful in exclusively positive ways. However, I will argue that consistent and deliberate self-tracking (with or without portable devices) necessitates a particular understanding of the self with consequences that have yet to be fully explored. Through an analysis of forum posts on a popular self-tracking discussion and informational site, QuantifiedSelf.com, I will claim that self-trackers approach the creation of self-knowledge in a manner that is particular to today’s society. I will discuss how the ubiquitous conflation of numerical identities with objective reasoning feeds into a mindset that supports quantification of the self, and how the views of self exhibited by these self-trackers can be considered a version of creating a “scientific self.” The notion of the scientific self supports both an individual and societal shift in the practice of “being”—a shift that carries with it many possible repercussions that have yet to be widely analyzed. This analysis, I will argue, is key to limiting the destructive potential of understanding people in terms of data, while simultaneously enabling new conceptualizations of self to be practiced in modern society.

The effects of dietary saturated versus polyunsaturated fat (7.5%; w/w) on sterol balance and lipoprotein metabolism were studied in guinea pigs. The polyunsaturated diet significantly reduced plasma cholesterol and triglyceride levels by 34% and 40%, respectively. Polyunsaturated dietary fat significantly reduced the percentage of cholesteryl ester in low density lipoprotein (LDL) while the relative proportion of LDL-phospholipids was increased. The ratio of LDL surface to core components in the polyunsaturated fed animals was significantly higher (P .02). Dietary fat quality had no effect on either sterol balance or hepatic 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase activity. Hepatic free and esterfield cholesterol levels were significantly higher in the polyunsaturated fat fed group (P .01). Feeding polyunsaturated fat caused a significant (1.9-fold) increase in hepatic membrane LDL (apo B/E) receptor binding. The data indicate that the hypocholesterolemic effect of polyunsaturated fat is not attributable to changes in cholesterol metabolism but rather to a redistribution of plasma cholesterol to tissues due to increased tissue LDL receptor binding.

Toxic dinoflagellate Prorocentrum concavum cells (DC) implicated in ciguatera poisoning were lyophilized and mixed with a standard fish food and fed to Domino damsel fish (Dascyllus trimaculatus). Damsel fish fed 50/50-SC/DC and 100% DC diets exhibited physical and behavioral changes as well as death. Feed refusal was apparent among the fish fed 100% DC diet. Toxicity of the control group could be attributed to previous exposure of the fish to other polyether compounds in its natural habitat or even other chemicals. Fish extracts of both control and treatment groups were toxic when tested on the Stick-enzyme immunoassay for ciguatoxin. Okadaic acid was detected in P. concavum, but no okadaic acid was found in any of the fish tissue extracts. Further studies are needed to determine the transfer of toxin to the fish through diet before any conclusion is made.

This study was designed to investigate the growth of Streptomyces griseus and Streptomyces odorifer, their production of and the distribution of musty odor compounds in white potato and cornmeal bread. Total plate count and actinomycetes /cm('2) where determined before and after storage for 3 or 5 days at 30 (+OR-) 3(DEGREES)C. A sensory panel was trained to identify musty odor. Musty odor compounds were extracted with organic solvents prior to analysis by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. / There was a significant difference (p < 0.01) in total plate count before and after storage of both the treated and untreated potato and bread samples. However, there was no significant difference in total plate count of the samples treated with S. griseus compared with those treated with S. odorifer. Inner layers exhibited significantly lower growth when examined for total plate count and actinomycetes in all samples. Actinomycetes represented only 11-14% of the total plate count after storage. / Retention times for geosmin and 2-methyl-isoborneol were determined by analyzing the gas chromatography and mass spectrometry data. No increase in peak height of geosmin or 2-methyl-isoborneol resulted when the food sample was added to standards. Further analysis of the mass spectra showed geosmin and 2-methyl-isoborneol peaks to be absent from the food sample. These results were the same for both strains in potatoes and bread. It was concluded that the actinomycetes in this study did not produce geosmin or 2-methyl-isoborneol in detectable quantities. / Foods treated with S. griseus or S. odorifer received significantly higher scores (p < 0.05) for musty odor than control samples; however, there was no significant difference in scores between S. griseus and S. odorifer. There was no significant difference in odor between inner layers of treated and control samples of bread or potatoes. The offensive odor that developed on outer layers was believed to be a mixture of musty and other offensive compounds produced by spoilage aerobes. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-12, Section: B, page: 3705. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.