The effects of substrate water availability on the isolation and growth of fungi

The work reported in this thesis was carried out to contribute to the knowledge of the effects of substrate water availability or water activity (a ) on fungal growth parameters and its implications in the preparationw of materials susceptible to biodeterioration. Fungi were isolated from soils of different ecological sites at a range of substrate aw levels controlled by sodium chloride (NaCl). Three groups of fungi were isolated : firstly, those isolated only at high a (aw about 0.997).secondly, those isolated at high and decreasing aw (aw 0.997 to 0.85) and finally, those isolated at only decreased aw (aw O.95 to 0.80). From these isolations, test fungi were selected to study the effects of pH, temperature, exo-enzyme production and biocide efficacy at decreased aw levels, with glycerol and NaCl as a controlling solutes. The linear extension rates of the fungi increased at all test pH values near optimum a of growth. Test fungi of the Aspergillus glaucus group were found to be most resistant to low aw. Growth and survival of vegetative and fruiting bodies at elevated temperatures were enhanced with the addition of a controlling solutes. A. flavus, A. fumigatus displayed high heat resistance and A. amstelodami, A. versicolor and Penicillium citrinum displayed low heat resistance at high aw levels and vice versa at low aw levels. Amylase, lipase and protease activities were studied at lowered aw , using modifications of the test tube method of Raute11a and Cowling. Amylase and protease production in most xerophilic fungi ceased around 0.80 aw , but lipase production in some xerophilic fungi, including A. glatlcus fungi, was up to and including 0.70 aw with g1ycero1.

Ophthalmic lenses availability:the guide to spectacle lenses, coatings and tints available in the United Kingdom

The guide to spectacle lenses and coatings and tints available in the UK. The Ophthalmic Lenses Availability Guide aims to collate information from lens manufacturers in the UK enabling practitioners to rapidly locate lenses suitable for your patients. Twenty lens and coating manufacturers are represented in the Guide which consists of three sections; the availability index, manufacturer's data and lens data files. In the 2008 edition, the availability index has been updated; arranging lenses by type and then in ascending order of refractive index. Additionally, for progressive power lenses, the corridor length or fitting height is included allowing the practitioner to more rapidly identify a lens which meets the fitting requirements of a selected frame. Further technical information is provided for a selected by going to the appropriate page number in the manufacturer’s section. The lens data files contain additional information on the optical properties of materials, tints and coatings and a summary list of hidden markings on progressive power lenses enabling the practitioner to identify the lens a patient is currently wearing.

Appropriate wage rate and estimate of labour availability for a public works based safety net in Cambodia

Employment generating public works (EGPW) are an important part of Royal Government of Cambodia’s (RGC’s) strategy being developed through Council for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) to develop a comprehensive social safety net (SSN) to provide a measure of protection from shocks for the poor and vulnerable and to contribute to poverty alleviation through short-term unskilled employment.

School children's attitudes towards computers as a fucntion of gender, course subjects and availability of home computers

The attitudes of 328 British Secondary School children towards computers were examined in a cross-sectional survey. Measures of both general attitudes towards computers and affective reactions towards working with computers were examined in relation to the sex of the subject, courses studied (computer related/noncomputer related) and availability of a home computer. A differential pattern of results was observed. With respect to general attitudes towards computers, main effects were found for all three independent variables indicating that more favourable attitudes increased as a function of being male, doing computer courses and having a home computer. In contrast to this, affective reactions to working with computers was primarily related to doing computer courses, such that those doing computer courses reported more positive and less negative reactions. The practical and theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

Solid oral forms availability in children:a cost saving investigation

AIM: To assess the suitability and potential cost savings, from both the hospital and community perspective, of prescribed oral liquid medicine substitution with acceptable solid forms for children over 2 years. METHOD: Oral liquid medicines dispensed from a paediatric hospital (UK) in 1 week were assessed by screening for existence of the solid form alternative and evaluating the acceptability of the available solid form, firstly related to the prescribed dose and secondly to acceptable size depending on the child's age. Costs were calculated based on providing treatment for 28 days or prescribed duration for short term treatments. RESULTS: Over 90% (440/476) of liquid formulations were available as a marketed solid form. Considering dosage acceptability (maximum of 10% deviation from prescribed dosage or 0% for narrow therapeutic range drugs, maximum tablet divisions into quarters) 80% of liquids could be substituted with a solid form. The main limitation for liquid substitution would be solid form size. However, two-thirds of prescribed liquids could have been substituted with a suitable solid form for dosage and size, with estimated savings being of 5K and 8K in 1 week, respectively based on hospital and community costs, corresponding to a projected annual saving of 238K and 410K (single institution). CONCLUSION: Whilst not all children over 2 years will be able to swallow tablets, drug cost savings if oral liquid formulations were substituted with suitable solid dosage forms would be considerable. Given the numerous advantages of solid forms compared with liquids, this study may provide a theoretical basis for investing in supporting children to swallow tablets/capsules.

Impact of driver behaviour on availability of electric vehicle stored energy for STOR

As take up of low carbon vehicles increase, there is interest in using the energy stored in the vehicles to help maintain system frequency through ancillary services on the electricity grid system. Research into this area is generally classed as vehicle-to-grid research. In theory, the energy available from electric vehicles could be directly correlated to the vehicle's state of charge (SoC) and battery capacity during the time the car is parked and plugged in. However, not all the energy in the vehicle may be used, as some capacity is required by the driver for their next journey. As such, this paper uses data captured as part of a large scale electric vehicle trial to investigate the effect of three different types of driver routine on vehicle-to-grid availability. Each driver's behaviour is analysed to assess the energy that is available for STOR, with follow on journey requirements also considered.

The availability of proprietary restitution in cases of mistaken payments

This article is concerned with the availability of “proprietary restitution” in cases of mistaken payments. It is argued that the mistake of the claimant is an insufficient justification for proprietary restitution, however a close analysis of the case law demonstrates that the presence of additional factors can justify the availability of proprietary restitution in specific circumstances. The basis of proprietary restitution is to be found in the breach of a duty which arises separately from the claim for unjust enrichment. The significant contribution of this article is the analysis that knowledge merely creates a duty to maintain the fund until restitution is made, and that knowledge cannot establish the breach of this duty. Importantly, breach of this duty is established by a second condition which is demonstrated by the wilful misconduct of the recipient. It is this conduct which justifies the imposition of the constructive trust. By adopting this analysis, the proprietary claim in the context of mistaken transfers can be classified as forming part of the law of wrongs, rather than the law of unjust enrichment.

Competitive processes in controlled cationic ring-opening polymerization of oxetane:a Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model of two growing species competing for the same resources

The activation-deactivation pseudo-equilibrium coefficient Qt and constant K0 (=Qt x PaT1,t = ([A1]x[Ox])/([T1]x[T])) as well as the factor of activation (PaT1,t) and rate constants of elementary steps reactions that govern the increase of Mn with conversion in controlled cationic ring-opening polymerization of oxetane (Ox) in 1,4-dioxane (1,4-D) and in tetrahydropyran (THP) (i.e. cyclic ethers which have no homopolymerizability (T)) were determined using terminal-model kinetics. We show analytically that the dynamic behavior of the two growing species (A1 and T1) competing for the same resources (Ox and T) follows a Lotka-Volterra model of predator-prey interactions. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.