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Working group on bycatch of protected species (WGBYC 2021)
Get PDFThe Working Group on Bycatch of Protected Species (WGBYC) was established in 2007 and collates and analyses information from across the Northeast Atlantic and adjacent sea areas (Baltic, Mediterranean and Black Seas) related to the bycatch of marine mammals, seabirds, turtles, and sensitive fish species in commercial fishing operations. Sensitive fish species were not considered at the 2021 meeting pending approval from the ICES Advisory Committee (ACOM) on fish species lists of bycatch interest that were developed at the ICES Workshop on Fish of Conservation and Bycatch Relevance (WKCOFIBYC) in 2020. WGBYC seeks to describe and improve under-standing of the likely impacts of fishing activities on affected populations at biologically relevant scales, to inform on the suitability of existing at-sea monitoring programmes for the quantification of robust bycatch estimates, and to collate information on and coordinate bycatch mitigation efforts at an international scale. In 2021, the WG met by correspondence to address eight Terms of Reference (ToR), including a data scoping exercise as part of a special request on seabird bycatch from the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC), which concluded that there was insufficient bycatch monitoring data from NEAFC waters to warrant further analyses at this time. The report also provides an overview of monitoring and fishing effort data contained in the WGBYC database for 2019 and 2020. This showed that during 2020, in most geographical areas of relevance, at-sea monitoring effort was significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Specific analyses were carried out to describe potential fisheries impacts (reported bycatch numbers, min/max bycatch rates and/or mortality estimates) for harbour seal in the Greater North Sea ecoregion and parts of the Baltic ecoregion, three turtle species in four Mediterranean ecoregions and in the Azores and Bay of Biscay and Iberian Coast ecoregions, and several seabird species in six ecoregions (Adriatic, Baltic, Bay of Biscay and Iberian Coast, Celtic Seas, Greater North Sea and Icelandic Waters). A risk-based approach, developed by WGBYC in 2020 to highlight monitoring gaps, was expanded using information from multiple sources and identified several high-risk métiers for bycatch which are relatively under-sampled by existing data collection programmes. Several members of WGBYC also participated simultaneously in the ICES Workshop on Estimation of Mortality of Marine Mammals due to Bycatch (WKMOMA) which ran over schedule due to data issues. Data used by WGBYC on fishing effort, at-sea monitoring effort and bycatch records are primarily acquired through an ICES dedicated data call which has been issued annually to all ICES member states since 2018 and all non-ICES EU coastal states from 2021. Although data quality and quantity are improving, WGBYC reiterate that significant gaps remain in data collection efforts and in data resolution, that limits the Working Group’s ability to provide useful assessments of the likely impacts of fishing activity across a wide range of protected species and areas. WGBYC note that broadscale low level monitoring programmes may be insufficient to highlight very rare bycatch occurrences for populations at low abundance and/or low susceptibility to by-catch, but which could have significant population levels impacts
EPR spectroscopic characterisation of native CuII-binding sites in human serum albumin
Get PDFHuman serum albumin (HSA) is the most abundant plasma protein, which functions to transport a large range of ligands within the circulation. These interactions have important implications for human health and disease. The primary binding site for CuII ions on HSA is known to be the so-called amino-terminal CuII and NiII binding (ATCUN) motif. However, the number and identity of secondary binding sites is currently not understood. In this study, we harnessed a suite of contemporary electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy methods to investigate recombinantly produced constructs of HSA bearing single-histidine knockouts, with the aim to characterise its endogenous CuII ion binding sites.Peer reviewe
The globalisation of the Silk Road : Sino-Latin American and Caribbean relations and the Belt and Road Initiative
No full textThis work investigates the normative implications of the People’s Republic of China’s Belt and Road Initiative on Latin American and Caribbean conceptions of order understood as regional normative fabric. It advances a problematisation and critique of the status quo of English School research, especially also regarding its regional and discursive turns, with respect to the application of ex-ante theorised lists of institutions as a theoretical bias or filter. The solution offered in this work is a theoretical-methodological framework following the guidelines of constructivist Grounded Theory and drawing on Wittgensteinian thought as well as on (cognitive) linguistics in order to emphasise the meaning-in-use in the thoughts and ideas of statespersons expressed in their discourse. The framework builds on the Englisch School and Norm Studies as scholarly preconceptions and sensitising concepts. The purpose of this work is to provide, by way of applying the grounded theoretical-methodological framework, new grounded understandings of (regional) conceptions of order, as context-dependant normative fabrics, and answering the question of what happens when normative fabrics of different context and origin meet. The meeting of normative fabrics is demonstrated on the example of the People’s Republic of China and CELAC, Argentina, and Colombia respectively in comparative analyses. The work makes four main contributions to IR: One, the development and demonstration of a grounded theoretical-methodological framework for the study of normative fabrics. Two, the (co-)construction of new grounded understandings of Latin America and the Caribbean as a one region and its normative fabric as woven by CELAC. Three, the diversification of BRI Studies both thematically and geographically – emphasising the ideational dimension rather than the material one and focusing on Latin America and the Caribbean as an understudied region within that field. Four, shedding light on the clearly normative implications of the initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean
Deathscape, materiality and memorialisation : Arandora Star remembrance in Scotland
Get PDFThis article progresses Second World War historiography of ‘enemy alien’ internment, especially of the SS Arandora Star, sunk in 1940 with a high loss of Italian civilian lives. Employing a new paradigm, that of the deathscape, defined as a topography of death and the practices that surround it, this investigation recontextualises Arandora Star remembrance in Scotland. Ambiguous loss, complicated grieving, disenfranchisements in mourning and absences in multiple layers of the deathscape form overarching themes that are explored in parallel to emotional-affective memory. The previously neglected study of individual memorialisation, both private and ‘official’, provides an important primary source in the fragmented materiality of the deathscape, allowing fresh insight on both cultural manifestations and political context. As the material and cultural apex of the deathscape, the Italian Cloister Garden and Arandora Star Memorial in Glasgow, created by Archbishop Mario Conti in 2011, are evaluated through the lenses of leadership, identity and heritage activism.Peer reviewe
Application of the Wittig rearrangement of N-butyl-2-benzyloxybenzamides to synthesis of phthalide natural products and 3-aryl-3-benzyloxyisoindolinone anticancer agents
Get PDFApplication of the [1,2]-Wittig rearrangement and cyclisation approach to 3-arylphthalides has been evaluated for the synthesis of three bioactive natural products. While this is successful in the case of crycolide, providing the second synthesis of this compound, the more sterically demanding targets isopestacin and cryphonectric acid prove not to be amenable to this approach, with the 2,6-disubstituted aryl groups causing the failure of the rearrangement and alkylation steps, respectively. Direct oxidation of the substituted benzhydrols resulting from [1,2]-Wittig rearrangement using MnO2 provides a new route to 3-aryl-3-hydroxyisoindolinones, and this method has been used in the synthesis of two 3-aryl-3-benzyloxyisoindolinone anticancer agents.Peer reviewe
Self-reported learning strategies and preferences in health informatics
Get PDFFunding: This work was supported by the Medical Research Council [grant number MR/N013166/1].Despite the proliferation of educational programmes in Health Informatics (HI) worldwide, there is limited knowledge regarding students' preferences and learning strategies in HI courses. To address this gap, we conducted a study to gather and analyse data from three HI courses. Employing the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and theories of deep and surface learning, we designed a questionnaire to collect data. The analysis of students' responses indicates that machine learning emerges as one of the most interesting topics, while certain topics such as data wrangling of genomics data were more challenging for students. Students expressed a preference for sequential learning. They exhibited multimodal tendencies regarding the type of learning resources, with tendency to prefer learning resources that have more visual contents. In all three courses, learners reported using deep learning strategy rather than surface learning, yet they appear to struggle with employing organisation, elaboration, and peer learning tactics. This study provides valuable insights into HI education, offering recommendations for educators, learners, and researchers to enhance HI education.Peer reviewe
Formation of nanodiamonds during pyrolysis of butanosolv lignin
Get PDFFunding: W.S. thanks Chinese Scholarship Council-St Andrews for a scholarship. D.J.D. thanks EaSI-CAT at the University of St Andrews for PhD funding.The preparation of artificial diamonds has a long history driven by decreased costs compared to naturally occurring diamonds and ethical issues. However, fabrication of diamonds in the laboratory from readily available biomass has not been extensively investigated. This work demonstrates a convenient method for producing nanodiamonds from the biopolymer lignin at ambient pressure. Lignin was extracted from Douglas Fir sawdust using a butanosolv pretreatment and was pyrolysed in N2 at 1000°C, followed by a second thermal treatment in 5% H2/Ar at 1050°C, both at ambient pressure. This led to formation of nanodiamonds embedded in an amorphous carbon substrate. The changes occurring at various stages of the pyrolysis process were monitored by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. High resolution transmission electron microscopy revealed that nanodiamond crystallites, 4 nm in diameter on average, formed via multiple nucleation events in some carbon-containing high density spheres. It is proposed that highly defected graphene-like flakes form during the pyrolysis of lignin as an intermediate phase. These flakes are more deformable with more localized π electrons in comparison with graphene, and join together face-to-face in different manners to form cubic or hexagonal nanodiamonds. This proposed mechanism for the formation of nanodiamonds is relevant to the future fabrication of diamonds from biomass under relatively mild conditions.Peer reviewe
Tailoring electrocatalytic activity of titanate perovskite oxides for enhancing oxygen and hydrogen evolution reactions
No full textThis thesis focuses on the preparation, characterization, and optimization of Ti-based perovskites for water splitting, particularly for OER. These materials are synthesized primarily via a modified sol-gel method. The development and implementation of a double E strategy resulted in a significant enhancement of the catalytic activity of Ti-based perovskites for water splitting.
A series of La₀.₂₊₂ₓCa₀.₇₋₂ₓTi₁₋ₓCoₓO₃ (LCTCoₓ) perovskites with different Co doping levels are synthesized. Reduced LCTCo₀.₁₁ (R-LCTCo₀.₁₁) is identified as a superior OER catalyst by controlling reduction time and temperature. It exhibits excellent mass activity (based on Co), achieving approximately 1700 mA mg⁻¹ at an overpotential of 450 mV, surpassing the benchmark catalyst RuO₂. The process utilized to enhance the OER catalytic activity of Co-doped Ti-based perovskites is known as redox exsolution.
Although the OER catalytic activity of La₀.₂₅Ca₀.₆₅Ti₀.₉₅Fe₀.₀₅O₃ (LCTFe) can be enhanced through redox exsolution, it is less effective than LCTCo. To further optimize the performance of LCTFe, a unique strategy, the double E strategy, is employed. This strategy combines redox exsolution and electrodeposition, resulting in R-LCTFe/Ni. This innovative approach, a novel contribution of this thesis, has proven effective.
R-LCTFe/Ni demonstrates remarkable OER catalytic activity, achieving overpotentials of only 331 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻². It also exhibits notable HER catalytic activity, making it a bifunctional catalyst for water splitting. Additionally, the successfully synthesized R-LCTFe/Co catalyst also shows exceptional water splitting catalytic activity, providing preliminary evidence of the transferability of the double E strategy.
During the preparation of R-LCTNi/Co, the conditions for electrodeposition are carefully controlled and selected, leading to an optimization of the double E strategy. The resulting R-LCTNi/Co exhibits a low overpotential of 281 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻², outperforming numerous state-of-the-art catalysts. This further substantiates the transferability of the double E strategy
Revolutionary attenders at court? Social democracy and monarchies in Imperial Germany (1890-1914)
No full textThis thesis examines the relationship between Social Democracy and monarchies in Imperial Germany from 1890 to 1914. For the bulk of the history of the Empire, this was described as antagonistic. On the one hand, the anti-monarchical Social Democrats were seen as “enemies of the empire”. On the other hand, the “monarchical authoritarian state” seemed to be an obstacle to democratic development. According to the socialist perspective, a republic was assumed to be the more suitable form of government, to be achieved through a revolution. However, underneath this common view, the relationship between these opposing forces is much more varied, complex, and conflicting, especially when focussing on Germany’s sub-national monarchies. Therefore, and in addition to the Imperial level, this study explores this relationship by analysing the developments in the Kingdoms of Württemberg, Bavaria, and Saxony. The thesis argues that neither the Social Democrats nor the monarchies can be described as a monolithic block. In addition, both sides proved their ability for further development and mutability. Shaped by the Empire’s federalism, a variety of different characteristics and relations was possible. In the process of centralisation, when responsibilities and competencies were transferred to the Imperial level, the regional monarchs lost a great deal of their hard power. By compensating this loss with soft power – publicly shown by their attempts as devoted and caring fathers of their countries – these princes could become acceptable even for Social Democrats. While the relationship with the Kaiser remained difficult, in the smaller kingdoms and states there was at least the chance of rapprochement. In many of the state parliaments, Social Democrats integrated themselves into the political cultures. In this process, they were willing to accept monarchical elements of these constitutional monarchies. In the end, it even led to the remarkable situation that in many of the sub-national monarchies, Social Democrats attended court in order to fulfil their parliamentary duties despite the party’s fundamental beliefs
Fear of progression after cancer recurrence : a mixed methods study
Get PDFFunding: This project was funded by the University of Stirling and an endowment (Cancer Care Research Legacy 98) as part of a PhD project.Background: The recurrence of cancer will significantly impact an individual’s quality of life (QoL) as they adjust to living with a condition that is often incurable. Patients remain at risk of further progression following recurrence, but fear of cancer progression (FOP) at this time is not commonly examined. Importantly, these fears are known to reach levels in which there are consequences for QoL. Methods: This study sought to explore levels of FOP, health-related QoL, anxiety, and depression in patients after a recurrence of their cancer in a longitudinal manner. With the study taking place throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, an assessment of fears related to cancer and the pandemic was included. A sequential mixed method approach was employed for complementarity and expansion purposes. A questionnaire was administered to 44 participants on three different occasions one month apart. A sub-sample of 10 participants then took part in semi-structured interviews. Findings: FOP was present at moderate levels in patients with a cancer recurrence, with over a third of the sample reaching levels considered dysfunctional. Levels of fear were stable over three months and were not predicted by select demographic or clinical factors. On average, depression was low, but anxiety reached mild levels. Challenges to health-related QoL were evident. Low levels of concern about COVID-19 in relation to cancer were reported. Integrated findings provided more nuanced answers to the research questions, including more specific worries about cancer progression. Implications: Findings support the development of psychosocial interventions to manage FOP, and future recommendations are provided. Identifying the presence of fears not commonly screened for after cancer recurrence adds to the existing knowledge in this area. Through acknowledging and attending to the psychosocial impact of FOP, healthcare professionals can provide tailored support to enhance the well-being of those with a recurrence of their cancer.Peer reviewe
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