The sagebrush steppe is a particularly sensitive ecosystem that is easily disturbed by fires, oil and gas extraction, woody-plant encroachment, and overgrazing. The natural regeneration of native species following a disturbance within this system is typically slow and sporadic, which allows invasive grasses to occupy the landscape. Attempts to assist the recovery of these landscapes through direct seeding is commonly met with poor success rates, particularly in lower elevation, drier sites. Novel seed enhancement technologies and planting techniques that mitigate limiting factors impairing restoration efforts may improve the likelihood of restoring these degraded areas. For chapter 1, we evaluated a solid-matrix priming technique, where bluebunch wheatgrass (Pseudoroegneria spicata) and Lewis flax (Linum lewisii) were primed and then the priming matrix and seed were pelleted together. We evaluated primed seed that had been incorporated into pellets at two field sites against seed that was pelleted but been left unprimed, and untreated seed (control). These three seed treatments were planted in the spring (mid-march) in shallow (2-cm) and deep (15-cm) furrows, in a complete factorial design. We found that primed seeds generally produced higher plant densities than control seed at the beginning of the growing season; however, its influence diminished towards the end of the growing season. We also found that deep furrows increased plant density throughout the growing season and even into the following year. The combination of priming and deep furrows outperformed control seed in shallow furrows in all measured metrics. For chapter 2, we evaluated a seed conglomeration technique for improving Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. Wyomingensis) emergence and survival under fall and winter plantings. The trial was implemented at five sites across Utah and Nevada in a randomized complete block-split-split plot design, with site, and planting season, comprising the split-plot factors. Each site and season combination was seeded with conglomerated and control seed. We found that in most cases, a fall seeding of Wyoming big sagebrush was either the same or more successful compared to planting on the snow in the winter, which is the current suggested practice. Our results also demonstrated that seed conglomeration produced higher plant densities compared to control seed throughout the growing season. The higher density of plants produced from conglomerates combined with the improved seed delivery provided by the conglomeration technique was estimated to offset the cost in producing conglomerates and reduce overall restoration costs by 41%.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain one of the leading causes of deaths worldwide. The formation and presence of aneurysm is a very important question in the study of this CVDs. An aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge on a blood vessel which forms over time. An aneurysm is usually considered to be a result of weakening of the blood vessel walls, this definition has stood over many years without being conclusively proven. Eventually, the aneurysm could clot or burst due to degradation of the aneurysm wall and accumulation of blood. The latter would lead to internal bleeding and result in a stroke. Local hemodynamics have been found to be very important in the study of the evolution of an aneurysm. In this study, a steady flow experimental investigation was conducted using planar Particle Image Velocimetery (PIV) on a rigid flow phantom of an idealised geometry consisting of a curve parent artery and a spherical aneurysm located on the outer convex side of the curvature. The flow phantom was fabricated directly using a commercially available desktop Stereolithography (STL) 3D printer instead of the more conventional investment casting method using a core. Although 3D printing technologies have been around for many years, the fabrication of flow phantoms by direct printing is still largely under-explored. This thesis details the results of investigation into the optimal printing and post-printing procedures required to produce a flow phantom of suitable clarity and transparency. Other important areas of concern such as the geometric accuracy, surface topography and refractive index of the final model are also investigated. A planar PIV is conducted to study the impact of flow rates on the local flow field in and around the aneurysm and their impact on the wall shear stress. It was found that direct 3D printing is appropriate for the fabrication of flow phantoms suitable for PIV or other flow visualisation techniques. It reduces the complexities and time needed compared to the conventional investment casting methods. It was observed that the optical properties of the printed material such as the high refractive index (RI) and the transmittivity of light could cause a problem in large models. From the PIV measurements it was found that flow rates affect the flow field in both the parent artery and the aneurysm. First, high velocities were observed on the outer curvature of the parent artery. Secondly the centre of rotation in the aneurysm is not at the geometric centre but is displaced slightly in the direction of the flow. Finally, the flow rate affects the angle in which flow enters the aneurysm from the parent vessel. This change in the flow angle affects the flow within the aneurysm. A higher flow rate in the parent artery increases the incident angle which brings the centre of rotation closer to the geometric centre of the aneurysm, this changes the location and magnitude of high velocities and hence the local wall shear stress (WSS) on the wall of the aneurysm. This may have implications in the evolution of aneurysms. / Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Die für technische Anwendungen attraktivsten Eigenschaften der Hochtemperatur-Supraleiter beruhen auf der Wechselwirkung der Materialien mit einem externen Magnetfeld. Für hochleistungsfähige Supraleiteranwendungen werden großvolumige Funktionselemente mit eindomänigem Magnetisierungsverhalten benötigt. Zur Vergrößerung der magnetischen Domäne schmelztexturierter YBa2Cu3O7-δ-Kompaktsupraleiter wurde anhand der Multi-Seeding-Technik, die Rekristallisation unter Verwendung mehrerer SmBa2Cu3O7-δ-Keimpräparate untersucht. Als Schlüsseltechnologie zur Herstellung anwendungsorientierter Supraleitererzeugnisse wurde zu Beginn der Arbeit die Keimkristallherstellung optimiert. Gemäß den Zielvorgaben stehen zukünftig quasi-einkristalline Keimkörper definierter Form und Orientierung in hoher Stückzahl zur Verfügung. Die Supraleiter betreffend ist es gelungen, für den wechselseitigen Abstand und die Ausrichtung der Keimpräparate ein Optimum zu finden sowie tolerierbare Winkel der Verschwenkung angrenzender Kristalle zu ermitteln. Es wurde festgestellt, dass das Auftreten isolierender Korngrenzeneinschlüsse mit den magnetischen Materialeigenschaften korreliert und vom Keimabstand und der Korngrenzenorientierung abhängig ist. Mit Einsatz von bis zu 16 Keimkristallen gelang es, eindomänige Supraleiterhalbzeuge mit Höchstmaßen von (79 x 39 x 20) mm3 und Remanenzflussdichten von bis zu 1,3 T zu erzeugen. Im Chargenprozess konnten abschließend Multi-Seeding-Funktionselemente mit anwendungskonformen geometrischen und magnetischen Materialeigenschaften zum Aufbau eines hochdynamischen Supraleitermotors reproduzierbar gefertigt werden. In Leistungstests wurde für die Dynamik des Motors mit 200.000 rpm/s ein Rekordwert erzielt – nun können die Motoren in der Anwendung erprobt werden.

No description available.

Die für technische Anwendungen attraktivsten Eigenschaften der Hochtemperatur-Supraleiter beruhen auf der Wechselwirkung der Materialien mit einem externen Magnetfeld. Für hochleistungsfähige Supraleiteranwendungen werden großvolumige Funktionselemente mit eindomänigem Magnetisierungsverhalten benötigt. Zur Vergrößerung der magnetischen Domäne schmelztexturierter YBa2Cu3O7-δ-Kompaktsupraleiter wurde anhand der Multi-Seeding-Technik, die Rekristallisation unter Verwendung mehrerer SmBa2Cu3O7-δ-Keimpräparate untersucht. Als Schlüsseltechnologie zur Herstellung anwendungsorientierter Supraleitererzeugnisse wurde zu Beginn der Arbeit die Keimkristallherstellung optimiert. Gemäß den Zielvorgaben stehen zukünftig quasi-einkristalline Keimkörper definierter Form und Orientierung in hoher Stückzahl zur Verfügung. Die Supraleiter betreffend ist es gelungen, für den wechselseitigen Abstand und die Ausrichtung der Keimpräparate ein Optimum zu finden sowie tolerierbare Winkel der Verschwenkung angrenzender Kristalle zu ermitteln. Es wurde festgestellt, dass das Auftreten isolierender Korngrenzeneinschlüsse mit den magnetischen Materialeigenschaften korreliert und vom Keimabstand und der Korngrenzenorientierung abhängig ist. Mit Einsatz von bis zu 16 Keimkristallen gelang es, eindomänige Supraleiterhalbzeuge mit Höchstmaßen von (79 x 39 x 20) mm3 und Remanenzflussdichten von bis zu 1,3 T zu erzeugen. Im Chargenprozess konnten abschließend Multi-Seeding-Funktionselemente mit anwendungskonformen geometrischen und magnetischen Materialeigenschaften zum Aufbau eines hochdynamischen Supraleitermotors reproduzierbar gefertigt werden. In Leistungstests wurde für die Dynamik des Motors mit 200.000 rpm/s ein Rekordwert erzielt – nun können die Motoren in der Anwendung erprobt werden.

Chionochloa, a genus of snow tussock grasses native to New Zealand, exhibits pronounced mast seeding. Chionochloa suffers very high levels of pre-dispersal flower and seed predation by three main insects: Eucalyptodiplosis chionochloae, a cecidomyiid midge, which is formally described here; Megacraspedus calamogonus, a gelechiid moth and Diplotoxa similis, a chloropid fly. Seven species of parasitoids that attack these seed predators were discovered. Four species parasitize M. calamogonus (one tachinid fly and three hymenopteran wasps), one parasitizes D. similis (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and two parasitize E. chionochloae, (a pteromalid wasp Gastrancistrus sp. and a platygastrid wasp Zelostemma chionochloae, which is given a formal description here). The abundance, predation levels by each of the insect species, and interactions between all the organisms in the community were studied across three elevations at Mount Hutt over three summer seasons. M. calamogonus was most abundant at 450 m altitude during all three seasons. D. similis was most common at 1070 m altitude, while its predation levels peaked in low flowering seasons and decreased in high seasons. E. chionochloae was abundant in all three altitudes and increased its predation levels with increasing flowering intensity. E. chionochloae was confirmed to use prolonged diapause of at least three years. Prolonged diapause was also confirmed in its two parasitoids. Chionochloa plants were manipulated with various treatments to test the effect on diapause in E. chionochloae and its two parasitoids. Treatments included plant warming, root pruning, gibberellic acid sprayed on the plants and combinations of these treatments. All three insects changed their emergence in response to some treatments and therefore it was suggested that combined with risk-spreading diapause, they may use some predicting to emerge from prolonged diapause. E. chionochloae control their diapause following some of the cues that Chionochloa use for flowering, while Z. chionochloae and Gastrancistrus in some cases follow their host’s cues and in others use similar cues as Chionochloa plants. Emergence or diapause predictions differed across elevations and plant species in all three insect seed/flower predators. E. chionochloae had female-biased sex ratios in different populations even after prolonged diapause. There was week evidence that both parasitoid species are female-biased in the first emergence year and male-biased after more than one year in diapause. Therefore it was suggested that diapause is not more costly for females of E. chionochloae and its parasitoid than for males. Females of all three species were not found to be better predictors (i.e, more likely to respond to treatments by not entering extended diapause) than males. The complex interactions of all the organisms in this web are thought to be sensitive to climate, and it was suggested that the global climate change may alter this sensitive system.

Articular cartilage has a low propensity for self-repair, due to which 27 million people are affected by osteoarthritis every year in North America. The current repair techniques used for cartilage defects possess flaws that reduce long-term clinical success. Tissue engineering carries with it the promise of engineering hyaline-like cartilage with physical and biochemical properties, similar to that of native cartilage. This being said, the primary objective of my project was to engineer clinically relevant sized articular cartilage constructs. To achieve my objective, first, I investigated the effect of continuous culture on cartilaginous tissue growth. Constructs grown under continuous media flow significantly accumulated more collagen and glycosaminoglycan, and displayed a stratified morphology, similar to that found in native cartilage. The second goal was to further increase chondrocyte proliferation, and extracellular matrix (ECM) accumulation. To achieve this, constructs were grown in a bioreactor with media supplemented with 14 mM sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3). Constructs cultivated in the bioreactor with NaHCO3 supplementation exhibited a significant (p<0.05) increase in ECM accumulation (a 98-fold increase in glycosaminoglycans and a 25-fold increase in collagen content), cell proliferation (a 13-fold increase), and thickness (a 28-fold increase) compared to all other conditions (static and reactor without NaHCO3 supplementation). The third goal was to engineer cartilage constructs with as little cells as possible, reducing donor site morbidity. From the results obtained, it was evident that the monolayer constructs outperformed all the other constructs (pellet, biopsy, and minced). The final goal was to understand the underlying reason for the increased proliferation. First, I investigated if there were any differences present in intracellular pH (pHi) and intracellular buffering capacity. Second, I determined the role of extracellular pH (pHe) on cell proliferation. In an effort to accurately achieve this, I, for the first time, have reported on measuring pHi of chondrocytes while still in culture (2D and 3D cultures) using a confocal microscope. This study demonstrated the importance of extracellular environments, such as pHe, extracellular buffering capacity, and the presence of carbon dioxide and bicarbonate ions for chondrocyte proliferation. / Thesis (Ph.D, Chemical Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2012-10-30 19:19:32.026