title: Investigation of extractable materials from biochar

authors: Yang, Wenjuan

subjects: Biochar

abstract: Biochar has been used to improve soil productivity and has been a subject of discussion since 1804. However, research and development of biochar for environmental purposes on a global scale are a recent development. Due to the increase of its uses and interest in biochar as soil amendment, there is a need to understand the intrinsic chemistry of biochar to understand how this might affect its action in the soil. 

In this work two principal topics were addressed: 
1)	Investigation of volatile organic compounds in biochar that has been derived from various biomasses and the effect of different temperatures of pyrolysis
2)	Identification of some chemical structures of biochar. 

GC-MS analysis identified 60 extractable organic compounds. With respect to pyrolysis temperature, GC-MS results of Green Waste chars and Sucrose chars shows that extractable organic compounds changed their proportions with differing pyrolysis temperatures.  MALDI-TOF and high resolution mass spectrometry results suggested that the characteristic ions for biochar  that appear in MALDI-TOF spectra with m/z values of 301,317, 413,429 and 453 are plasticizers whereas 685/ 701 are ions, [M+Na] ⁺/ [M+K] ⁺ respectively that are intrinsic to biochar.

text: Investigation of extractable materials from biochar Biochar has been used to improve soil productivity and has been a subject of discussion since 1804. However, research and development of biochar for environmental purposes on a global scale are a recent development. Due to the increase of its uses and interest in biochar as soil amendment, there is a need to understand the intrinsic chemistry of biochar to understand how this might affect its action in the soil. 

In this work two principal topics were addressed: 
1)	Investigation of volatile organic compounds in biochar that has been derived from various biomasses and the effect of different temperatures of pyrolysis
2)	Identification of some chemical structures of biochar. 

GC-MS analysis identified 60 extractable organic compounds. With respect to pyrolysis temperature, GC-MS results of Green Waste chars and Sucrose chars shows that extractable organic compounds changed their proportions with differing pyrolysis temperatures.  MALDI-TOF and high resolution mass spectrometry results suggested that the characteristic ions for biochar  that appear in MALDI-TOF spectra with m/z values of 301,317, 413,429 and 453 are plasticizers whereas 685/ 701 are ions, [M+Na] ⁺/ [M+K] ⁺ respectively that are intrinsic to biochar.

year: 2012

title: Oral ketone supplementation: effect on cognitive function, physiology and exercise performance

authors: Rodger, Shem

subjects: Ergogenic

abstract: Nutritional strategies play an important role in facilitating peak athletic performances and research has shown that a state of physiological ketosis, from either a ketogenic diet or ketone supplementation, may have several benefits for athletes. These ergogenic properties may stem from the thermodynamic advantages ketones possess over other energy substrates as well as their ability to preserve glucose stores. Physiological ketosis has also shown improvements in cognitive performance, particularly for those suffering from neurological disease. The following thesis uses an oral ketone supplement (sodium- and potassium-based β-hydroxybutyrate) to elevate blood ketone concentrations to assess the effects of supplement induced ketosis on exercise metabolism and cycling performance (study 1, Chapter 2), as well as its effect on cognitive performance in an active population (study two, Chapter 3). As part of study 1, Twelve participants took part in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised crossover design. The research assessed the effect of supplement-induced ketosis on 4 minute all-out cycling performance which followed 90 minutes at second ventilatory threshold (VT2). Upon ingestion of a ketone supplement (KET: 30 ml of Ketoforce; Prototype Nutrition, IL, USA) or placebo (PLA: 3g table salt; NaCl), effect size (ES) analysis, revealed an unclear 2.3 ±4.8% (Δ mean ±90% Confidence Interval (CI)) change  in power output during a 4-minute maximal cycling performance test (4PT) in the KET trial compared to PLA. Therefore no substantial performance outcomes came as a result of ketone supplementation despite a three-fold increase in blood β-hydroxybutyrate concentration (ES ±90% CI= 3.02 ±0.8; very large) which was accompanied by a 2.2 ±1.9% increase in the respiratory exchange ratio (RER) during the submaximal exercise phase (ES = 0.51 ±0.4; moderate). During the 4PT increases in both VO2 (2.4 ±3.3%; ES = 0.24 ±0.3; small) and RER (4.3 ±3.3; ES = 0.75 ±0.5, moderate) were evident during the KET trial compared to the PLA. 
Similarly in study 2, the effects of oral ketone supplementation on cognitive function were assessed. Using a single blind, placebo-controlled design cognitive function was evaluated through five tests intended to assess different components of neuro-muscular performance, reaction time, processing speed and memory recall: finger tap test (FTT), stroop test (ST), reaction time test (RT), monkey-ladder test (MLT) and one-card test (OCT). The reliability of each test was also assessed using a test-retest protocol. No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed in cognitive function between groups. ES analysis revealed small improvements in the KET trial for ST (ES = 0.34 ±0.4) as well as the MLT (ES = 0.34 ±0.4) with either trivial or unclear results for FTT, RT and OCT when compared to PLA. In conclusion, ingestion of an oral ketone supplement was shown to have no substantial impact on human performance as measured through 4-minute cycling performance and measures of cognitive function.

text: Oral ketone supplementation: effect on cognitive function, physiology and exercise performance Nutritional strategies play an important role in facilitating peak athletic performances and research has shown that a state of physiological ketosis, from either a ketogenic diet or ketone supplementation, may have several benefits for athletes. These ergogenic properties may stem from the thermodynamic advantages ketones possess over other energy substrates as well as their ability to preserve glucose stores. Physiological ketosis has also shown improvements in cognitive performance, particularly for those suffering from neurological disease. The following thesis uses an oral ketone supplement (sodium- and potassium-based β-hydroxybutyrate) to elevate blood ketone concentrations to assess the effects of supplement induced ketosis on exercise metabolism and cycling performance (study 1, Chapter 2), as well as its effect on cognitive performance in an active population (study two, Chapter 3). As part of study 1, Twelve participants took part in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised crossover design. The research assessed the effect of supplement-induced ketosis on 4 minute all-out cycling performance which followed 90 minutes at second ventilatory threshold (VT2). Upon ingestion of a ketone supplement (KET: 30 ml of Ketoforce; Prototype Nutrition, IL, USA) or placebo (PLA: 3g table salt; NaCl), effect size (ES) analysis, revealed an unclear 2.3 ±4.8% (Δ mean ±90% Confidence Interval (CI)) change  in power output during a 4-minute maximal cycling performance test (4PT) in the KET trial compared to PLA. Therefore no substantial performance outcomes came as a result of ketone supplementation despite a three-fold increase in blood β-hydroxybutyrate concentration (ES ±90% CI= 3.02 ±0.8; very large) which was accompanied by a 2.2 ±1.9% increase in the respiratory exchange ratio (RER) during the submaximal exercise phase (ES = 0.51 ±0.4; moderate). During the 4PT increases in both VO2 (2.4 ±3.3%; ES = 0.24 ±0.3; small) and RER (4.3 ±3.3; ES = 0.75 ±0.5, moderate) were evident during the KET trial compared to the PLA. 
Similarly in study 2, the effects of oral ketone supplementation on cognitive function were assessed. Using a single blind, placebo-controlled design cognitive function was evaluated through five tests intended to assess different components of neuro-muscular performance, reaction time, processing speed and memory recall: finger tap test (FTT), stroop test (ST), reaction time test (RT), monkey-ladder test (MLT) and one-card test (OCT). The reliability of each test was also assessed using a test-retest protocol. No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed in cognitive function between groups. ES analysis revealed small improvements in the KET trial for ST (ES = 0.34 ±0.4) as well as the MLT (ES = 0.34 ±0.4) with either trivial or unclear results for FTT, RT and OCT when compared to PLA. In conclusion, ingestion of an oral ketone supplement was shown to have no substantial impact on human performance as measured through 4-minute cycling performance and measures of cognitive function.

year: 2015

title: 'The voices caused him to become porangi': Maori Patients in the Auckland Lunatic Asylum, 1860-1900

authors: Burke, Lorelle J.

abstract: Histories of the asylum have raised a number of important questions about the way 'race' intersects along colonial, medical and legal boundaries. The experience of Maori patients at the Auckland Lunatic Asylum was a site where colonial attitudes towards 'race' were played out along such lines. By employing 'race' as a category of historical analysis, one can attempt to investigate how the asylum processes in Aotearoa/New Zealand exemplified the question of 'race' in an effort to make more visible the experiences, attitudes and responses of Maori asylum patients. 
This thesis examines colonial 'madness' by investigating the experiences of Maori patients at the Auckland Lunatic Asylum from 1860-1900. Using patient case records from this period this thesis interrogates the experiences of Maori patients in a colonial asylum, away from their whanau, communities, and tribal networks; what factors contributed to this, and how colonial attitudes towards these patients were acted out. The first chapter therefore, explores the 'medico-legal' management of these Maori patients, followed in Chapter Two by a broad overview of the Maori patients themselves. Chapter Three analyses the case records in more depth illustrating the complex interplay between 'race', gender, 'whiteness' and culture. Chapter Four looks at the way Maori dealt with the insane away from European institutions such as the asylum, emphasising how colonial histories of medicine now paying attention to Indigenous peoples in their context, and to medical pluralism, which reflects European models on one hand and on the other, Maori modes. 
In considering Maori patients, this thesis reflects on the very 'human experience' that can be revealed by using asylum case files, and what such sources may suggest about 'race' as an implicit part of colonial asylum administration. More widely, the paper also reflects on colonisation, Maori and the asylum, and the ways in which Maori used the asylum.

text: 'The voices caused him to become porangi': Maori Patients in the Auckland Lunatic Asylum, 1860-1900 Histories of the asylum have raised a number of important questions about the way 'race' intersects along colonial, medical and legal boundaries. The experience of Maori patients at the Auckland Lunatic Asylum was a site where colonial attitudes towards 'race' were played out along such lines. By employing 'race' as a category of historical analysis, one can attempt to investigate how the asylum processes in Aotearoa/New Zealand exemplified the question of 'race' in an effort to make more visible the experiences, attitudes and responses of Maori asylum patients. 
This thesis examines colonial 'madness' by investigating the experiences of Maori patients at the Auckland Lunatic Asylum from 1860-1900. Using patient case records from this period this thesis interrogates the experiences of Maori patients in a colonial asylum, away from their whanau, communities, and tribal networks; what factors contributed to this, and how colonial attitudes towards these patients were acted out. The first chapter therefore, explores the 'medico-legal' management of these Maori patients, followed in Chapter Two by a broad overview of the Maori patients themselves. Chapter Three analyses the case records in more depth illustrating the complex interplay between 'race', gender, 'whiteness' and culture. Chapter Four looks at the way Maori dealt with the insane away from European institutions such as the asylum, emphasising how colonial histories of medicine now paying attention to Indigenous peoples in their context, and to medical pluralism, which reflects European models on one hand and on the other, Maori modes. 
In considering Maori patients, this thesis reflects on the very 'human experience' that can be revealed by using asylum case files, and what such sources may suggest about 'race' as an implicit part of colonial asylum administration. More widely, the paper also reflects on colonisation, Maori and the asylum, and the ways in which Maori used the asylum.

year: 2006