مستخلص: The invention relates to vise pivotal jaws for holding irregular shaped objects and that are modular to work on various sized prior art vises. Also relates to pivotal jaws having aid to return back to a neutral center position. The design allows ease of disassembly for cleaning and reassembly.

مستخلص: An active brake locking system has one or more valves in communication with an existing hydraulic vehicle system; one or more actuators controlling operation of the one or more valves; and a power source electrically connected to one or more processors and a media storage device, wherein the one or more actuators control a flow of fluids within the existing vehicle system.

مستخلص: The invention relates to vise pivotal jaws for holding irregular shaped objects and that are modular to work on various sized prior art vises. Also relates to pivotal jaws having aid to return back to a neutral center position. The design allows ease of disassembly for cleaning and reassembly.

المؤلفون: Allain, Steven James Ronald

المساهمون: Griffiths, Richard, Roberts, David

مصطلحات موضوعية: QL Zoology

الوصف: Anthropogenic activities are currently contributing to global wildlife populations declines in what some scientists have named the sixth mass extinction. Reptiles are not exempt from these declines, with species affected by the combined effects of habitat loss, climate change, over-exploitation, disease, and multiple other factors. In recent decades, emerging infectious diseases have become a more urgent concern on the conservation agenda, especially in those species or populations that are already threatened by human-mediated threats or changes. One example of these is ophidiomycosis, which was first detected in wild snake populations in Great Britain in 2016. The barred grass snake (Natrix helvetica) is a widespread species throughout Great Britain that has declined regionally in recent times. This thesis aims to answer: (1) What is the prevalence of skin lesions within the study population and its relationship to ophidiomycosis? (2) How do skin lesions caused by ophidiomycosis vary seasonally in barred grass snakes? (3) How do skin lesions affect the behaviour and survival of snakes? (4) What is the population size and annual survival and detectability of snakes within the population? A study site comprising an artificial wetland and associated habitats in eastern England measuring approximately 0.5 km2 in size, was monitored for N. helvetica through 264 surveys conducted by five surveyors from 2015 to 2021. A total of 1143 individual snakes were captured and identified by their ventral scale pattern, using Wild-ID. These data were then used to build a capture history to compare annual survival and detectability of snakes with and without skin lesions. Skin lesions were first identified in the population in 2016, which tested real-time PCR positive for Ophidiomyces ophidiicola DNA. Starting in 2019, targeted monitoring of skin lesions was undertaken to investigate their characteristics and aetiology, with snakes showing clinical signs being swabbed for later rtPCR analysis. Skin lesions were observed in 25.5% of individual snakes captured from 2019 to 2021 inclusive. The lesions occurred mainly on the ventral surface of snakes as discoloured areas of mild crusting on scales, or scale margin erosion. When present, a tailored severity classification system was used to score the severity of skin lesions. A total of 78.7% of the swabs taken from snakes with skin lesions, tested rtPCR positive for O. ophidiicola DNA. These results were reinforced through the use of histopathology of both tissue and slough samples, which supported use of skin lesions as a proxy for ophidiomycosis in later analyses. Skin lesions occurred more frequently in adults than sub-adults or neonates, and a higher occurrence of trauma was observed in snakes with skin lesions, indicating potential changes in behaviour leading to increased conflict with predators. Jolly-Seber models indicated a population size that fluctuated between 323-780 (SE: 66.15-179.67) snakes per year. Cormack-Jolly-Seber models showed that snakes with skin lesions had approximately half the apparent annual survival through time (φ = 0.224-0.225), than those snakes without skin lesions (φ = 0.531-0.639). Moreover, the detectability of snakes with skin lesions was also significantly higher (p = 0.693-0.721) than those without lesions (p = 0.08-0.163). Ophidiomycosis may therefore lead to changes in behaviour that could potentially expose snakes to higher predation pressure. Finally, the anti-predator behaviour of snakes was compared between snakes with and without skin lesions. Three anti-predator behaviours were observed, with musking being the most frequent, being recorded in over 75% of snakes upon initial capture. There were significant differences between the observed behaviour of snakes between both the capture and processing phases. The response of snakes to initial capture did not vary according to sex, size class, presence of skin lesions, or slough cycle. Snakes were less likely to feign death on subsequent captures than those encountered for the first time. Snakes with skin lesions also feigned death for a longer duration than those snakes without skin lesions. Changes in the behaviour of snakes affected by ophidiomycosis may lead to reduced survival rates, posing a threat to populations if recruitment is not high enough to compensate. The findings related to the prevalence of ophidiomycosis in N. helvetica could also have implications on survey design, such as employing a risk based surveillance strategy to improve the efficiency of ophidiomycosis detection.

الوصول الحر: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.885014Test

المؤلفون: Gray, Steven James

الوصف: Through this thesis we set the hypothesis that, via the creation of a set of custom toolkits, using cloud computing, online user-generated content, can be extracted from emerging large-scale data sets, allowing the collection, analysis and visualisation of geospatial data by social scientists. By the use of a custom-built suite of software, known as the 'BigDataToolkit', we examine the need and use of cloud computing and custom workflows to open up access to existing online data as well as setting up processes to enable the collection of new data. We examine the use of the toolkit to collect large amounts of data from various online sources, such as Social Media Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and data stores, to visualise the data collected in real-time. Through the execution of these workflows, this thesis presents an implementation of a smart collector framework to automate the collection process to significantly increase the amount of data that can be obtained from the standard API endpoints. By the use of these interconnected methods and distributed collection workflows, the final system is able to collect and visualise a larger amount of data in real time than single system data collection processes used within traditional social media analysis. Aimed at allowing researchers without a core understanding of the intricacies of computer science, this thesis provides a methodology to open up new data sources to not only academics but also wider participants, allowing the collection of user-generated geographic and textual content, en masse. A series of case studies are provided, covering applications from the single researcher collecting data through to collection via the use of televised media. These are examined in terms of the tools created and the opportunities opened, allowing real-time analysis of data, collected via the use of the developed toolkit.

الوصول الحر: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.885812Test

المؤلفون: Bell, Steven James

الوصف: The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a key organelle in the eukaryotic cell and is responsible for protein folding and quality control, mediated by protein chaperones. It is also home to the oxidoreductase system which is required for disulphide bond formation and is the main theme of this thesis. Two of the vital proteins in the ER-localised oxidoreductase system are protein disulphide isomerase (PDI) and endoplasmic reticulum oxidoreductase 1 α (Ero1α). These proteins work alongside other specialist PDI family members such as anterior gradient 2 (AGR2). This thesis examines the role of both PDI and AGR2 in protein quality control, together with important clients such as collagen, a major component of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and a secreted product of fibroblast cells present in the skin. The role of AGR2 in oesophageal cancer was explored, with data dependant acquisition (DDA) mass spectrometry (MS) used to identify novel interacting partners of AGR2. AGR2 was found to be over expressed in certain oesophageal cell lines and key interacting partners such as MUC5AC and SQSTM1 were identified. Research was undertaken in this thesis to compare the effectiveness and application of the reducing agent dithiobutylamine (DTBA) to biological systems and how this reducing agent affects the cellular proteome and the redox state of PDI. Live cell imaging was used to see how the structure of the ER was affected by reductive stress. Data independent acquisition (DIA) MS was used to identify new molecular players in the cellular response to reductive stress, in the response to PDI inhibitors, in the response to growth factors (PDGF) and in the response to skin bioactive (e.g. niacinamide). Taken together, these analyses lay the foundations for understanding new mechanistic control points in the quality control of protein secretion and homeostasis.

الوصول الحر: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.876743Test

المؤلفون: Eustace, Steven James (ORCID 0000-0002-0699-0338), Wdowski, Maximilian (ORCID 0000-0002-1131-9434), Tallis, Jason, Duncan, Michael (ORCID 0000-0002-2016-6580)

المصدر: Journal of Motor Learning and Development. 2023 11(2):323-337.

تمت مراجعته من قبل الزملاء: Y

Page Count: 15

الواصفات: Muscular Strength, Children, Preadolescents, Human Body, Predictor Variables, Human Posture, Foreign Countries, Elementary School Students, Psychomotor Skills

مصطلحات جغرافية: United Kingdom

مستخلص: This study assessed whether trunk flexor and extensor strength were predictors of time to stability (TTS) and center of pressure (CoP) during hop and hold tasks in children. Seventeen boys (age, 10.1 ± 1.6 years; height, 1.45 ± 0.11 m; mass, 26.7 ± 7.83 kg) undertook isokinetic strength assessments of concentric and eccentric trunk flexors/extensors at 60°/s, and anterior/medial hop tasks. Hierarchical multiple regressions determined whether concentric and eccentric trunk flexor/extensor peak torques predict TTS using a composite score (Comp[subscript X] Comp[subscript Y] Comp[subscript Z]) and CoP[subscript X] and CoP[subscript Y]. Concentric trunk flexors were the strongest predictor for TTS Comp[subscript XY], with concentric flexion and eccentric extension predicting TTS Comp[subscript Y]. All muscle actions were also strong predictors for CoP[subscript Y] during hop tasks. These findings have implications for the assessment of trunk musculature strength and measures of postural control within a young healthy population. The development of trunk musculature strength may aid improvements in dynamic balance tasks in children, with implications for fall and injury risk. To improve trunk musculature strength and the potential to maintain postural control, a combination of concentric and eccentric exercises with other training modalities appears relevant due to the increased relevance to the demands of balance maintenance.

Abstractor: As Provided

المؤلفون: Singer, Steven James (ORCID 0000-0003-0580-1547), Cacciato, Kimberly (ORCID 0000-0001-5462-2268), Kamenakis, Julianna (ORCID 0000-0001-5437-0662), Shapiro, Allison (ORCID 0000-0002-9834-5108)

المصدر: International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education. Sep 2020 13(1):1-19.

تمت مراجعته من قبل الزملاء: Y

Page Count: 19

الواصفات: Deafness, Hearing Impairments, Inclusion, Comorbidity, Multiple Disabilities, Sign Language, Parent Attitudes, Decision Making, Influences, Interpersonal Communication, Language Usage, Family Environment, Educational Environment, Student Characteristics, Student Needs, Physical Health, Medical Services, Access to Education, Equal Education

مستخلص: Educators have long argued about the best ways for Deaf children to communicate and how they should be educated. The two notions are inseparable for Deaf students who most often learn language at school. Since the passing of IDEA, most Deaf students have moved from segregated schools to their neighborhood schools where all students might benefit from learning and socializing together--the foundations of inclusion. Might inclusion for Deaf students with multiple disabilities mean something different? In this ethnography, the authors examined the experiences of six families that had school-aged children who were Deaf-Plus and used signed language to communicate. Research questions included: (1) what were the experiences of parents navigating communication and education for their children; and (2) what did inclusion mean for their children? Data collection included: Semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and focus groups. The team developed three themes: (1) External Influences on Parent's Decision-Making Regarding Language and Communication; 2) Language and Communication Varies Among Deaf-Plus Children and Their Family Members; and (3) Struggling to Determine and Secure an Inclusive and Productive Learning Environment for Their Deaf-Plus Children. It behooves educators to consider how students' individual characteristics might benefit learning and create improved inclusive experiences.

Abstractor: As Provided

مستخلص: A walking aid accessory that is an aesthetic glider for a walker and a method of manufacturing.