Browsing University of Galway Theses by Subject "Natural Sciences"
Now showing items 1-20 of 132
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A 3-D radiative transfer analysis of AGB winds
(NUI Galway, 2024-04-16)The chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium is driven by stars of low to intermediate masses shedding their external layers through powerful stellar winds. Eventually, after many years in this phase, the core of ... -
Anaerobic digestion of nut and coffee wastes: different pretreatment techniques to enhance methane production
(NUI Galway, 2022-07-25)Lignocellulosic materials (LMs) are the most abundant residues on the planet and have a great potential for methane production. Nevertheless, the energy potential of LMs for biofuel production is limited by their complex ... -
Anaerobic digestion of selenium-rich wastewater for simultaneous methane and volatile fatty acid production and selenium bioremediation
(NUI Galway, 2022-09-09)This research aimed at investigating the anaerobic digestion (AD) of selenium (Se)-rich and lipid-rich wastewaters via evaluating the operational parameters in sequential and continuous bioreactors. In the first part of ... -
Analysis of EMCCD gain estimation techniques for use in astronomical instruments
(NUI Galway, 2023-09-14)Electron-multiplied Charge Coupled Devices (EMCCDs) are used in many astro nomical instruments where they provide much improved signal to noise compared to conventional CCDs. However, the gain provided by electron-multiplication ... -
Aplanatic lens correctors for imaging optics
(NUI Galway, 2022-09-05)This thesis proposes analytically developed aplanatic field correctors. To begin, an astigmatism correction method for aplanatic Gregorian telescopes was developed employing two lenses with spherical surfaces and a ... -
Autotrophic denitrification using inorganic sulfur compounds as electron donor: process optimization and microbial characterization
(NUI Galway, 2022-07-25)This research aimed at enhancing and optimizing autotrophic denitrification exploiting inorganic sulfur compounds as electron donor and proposing and investigating pyrite as novel substrate. In addition, the simultaneous ... -
Bamboozled! Systematic studies of the Keratoisididae (Octocorallia: Scleralcyonacea)
(NUI Galway, 2023-11-15)Deep-sea corals are globally distributed and form a three-dimensional habitat on the benthos which hosts a diverse invertebrate community. Despite this importance, a global lack of taxonomic expertise and low resolution ... -
Beyond Lolium perenne: the impact of grassland biodiversity on butyric acid and biomethane production in a forage-based anaerobic biorefinery
(NUI Galway, 2024-02-22)Permanent grassland fields are complex ecosystems consisting of graminoids (e.g., grasses) and forbs (e.g., legumes and herbs), which are crucial for environmental health and food production. Forbs are important players ... -
The bile pigments and genetics of ballan wrasse morphotypes
(NUI Galway, 2020-12-10)All fish have the pigment bilirubin in their blood which results from the breakdown of haemoglobin, however, some Labridae and other species also have an alternative pigment known as biliverdin which results in blue-green ... -
Bioethanol and biobutanol production from CO and CO2 using solventogenic acetogens
(NUI Galway, 2022-01-27)This research aimed at enhancing ethanol and butanol production from H2/CO2 and CO by anaerobic sludge from wastewater treatment plants via investigating the environmental parameters in a semi-gas fed bioreactor and ... -
Biofortification for better nutrition: developing and delivering crops with more impact
(NUI Galway, 2020-05-06)Background: Globally, around three billion people have inadequate diets and are often malnourished. Biofortification, a nutrition-sensitive approach that aims to increase the nutritional density of staple crops, has great ... -
Biogas clean-up using a novel hollow fibre membrane bioreactor for end-use applications
(NUI Galway, 2022-04-06)The aim of this research was to develop a novel hollow fibre membrane bioreactor (HFMB) that can be used for H2S laden waste gas treatment and biogas desulfurization. In addition, the aim was to utilize the HFMB for ... -
Brewery spent grain cascade process: protein recovery and improved downstream fermentation for simultaneous volatile fatty acid production and recovery
(NUI Galway, 2022-03-23)Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are short chain carboxylic acids currently produced from fossil fuels. Renewable biomass, including organic wastes, could be used as an alternative source of VFAs. Brewery spent grain (BSG) was ... -
Carbonization of polyimide using CO2 laser and femtosecond laser for sensor applications
(NUI Galway, 2023-10-05)Laser carbonization is the process of photothermal conversion of polymers rich in aromatic carbons such as Polyimide (PI) into graphene, via a process called Laser Induced Graphene (LIG) using a laser as the source of ... -
CDC7 kinase promotes replication DNA double-strand breaks upon replication fork stalling and its inhibition causes an inflammatory response and senescence
(NUI Galway, 2022-12-08)CDC7 is an essential serine-threonine kinase that has an important role in the initiation of DNA replication. CDC7 phosphorylates several sites of the MCM helicase complex allowing recruitment of CDC45, among other factors, ... -
A cell-based study exploring novel therapeutic approaches to target cell stress and cell death pathways in paediatric cancers
(NUI Galway, 2020-08-17)Paediatric cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children. High mortality rates and long-term effects of conventional treatments suggest an urgent need for basic and translational research to allow treatment ... -
Characterisation of histone variants in the cnidarian Hydractinia
(NUI Galway, 2019-02-21)Hydractinia is a marine hydrozoan cnidarian that has been a model organism for developmental biology for over a century. Very few studies have been carried out on chromatin biology in cnidarians. To date, there is no ... -
Characterisation of human nucleolar organisers located in previously uncharted regions of the human genome
(NUI Galway, 2019-01-18)The nucleolus is a large, sub-nuclear domain and the site of ribosome biogenesis. Nucleoli form around chromosomal loci called ‘nucleolar organiser regions (NORs) located on the short arms of the human acrocentric ... -
Characterisation of three zinc finger proteins ZC3H8, ZC3H11A and ZC3H14, identified as new partners of ATM, the central regulator of biological response to DNA double strand breaks
(NUI Galway, 2019-12-16)The integrity of our genome is very important therefore, our cells have developed efficient DNA repair mechanisms to control this integrity and avoid mutations. Although the DNA double strand break response pathway is ... -
Characterising the geochemistry of the natural environment using compositional data analysis
(NUI Galway, 2021-05-31)The geochemistry of the natural environment (e.g. soils, streams, sediments and groundwater) is representative of the source(s) from which these materials are derived. In fact, a geochemical dataset is essentially a ...