66 research outputs found
The implications of grassland and heathland management for the conservation of spider communities: a review
No full textBoth intensity and type of habitat management in grasslands and heathlands affect spider communities. With high intensity management, spider communities often lack diversity and are dominated by a few r-selected species affiliated with bare ground. Low intensity management produces more complex communities introducing more niches for aerial web spinners and climbing spiders. The preferred management will be site-dependent and may not be appropriate for all spiders in all situations, particularly for some rare or threatened species. Providing natural cover is recommended when using extreme forms of management or intensive grazing (particularly by sheep). In extreme cases, or where trampling is heavy, the litter layer should be conserved. We advocate research and survey before and after major management implementation. Habitat management for spiders should not be considered alone, but integrated into a holistic plan. Management for spiders may conflict with rare plant conservation and small reserves should examine the viability of providing two contrasting regimes
Spider communities as tools in monitoring reclaimed limestone quarry landforms
No full textSpider communities are sensitive to a wide range of environmental factors and are potential ecological indicators which may be effective in the assessment and monitoring of restored ecosystems. One restoration technique of disused limestone quarry faces, landform replication, attempts to create landforms and ecosystems similar to those found on natural dalesides. Vegetation surveys indicate that communities developing on landform replications are more closely allied to natural dalesides than are those of naturally recolonised disused quarries. Assessment of the spider communities of three landform replication sites, a natural limestone daleside and seven naturally recolonised disused limestone quarries, using DECORANA and TWINSPAN, produced differing patterns of sites than those observed through the assessment of the vegetation communities. DECORANA assessment based on vascular plant species composition highlights the similarities between daleside and reclaimed site communities. The sensitivity of spider communities to vegetation structure and extent of bare ground highlights differences between sites and provides evidence of important differences in vegetation community development particularly in relation to cover and structure. Implications for the assessment of reclamation and restoration techniques are discussed
Pseudoscorpions in Field Margins: Effects of Margin Age, Management and Boundary Habitats
No full textVolume: 27Start Page: 236End Page: 24
Providing students with formative audio feedback
No full textThe provision of timely and constructive feedback is increasingly challenging for busy academics. Ensuring effective student engagement with feedback is equally difficult. Increasingly, studies have explored provision of audio recorded feedback to enhance effectiveness and engagement with feedback. Few, if any, of these focus on purely formative audio feedback on draft submissions of written assignments. This study encouraged a cohort of 40 students to submit drafts of written assignments, two weeks before formal submission, in order to receive audio recorded feedback. Nearly half the cohort either did not submit drafts or submitted only brief outlines. The level of draft completeness impacted on the characteristics of the lecturer's feedback. While students receiving audio feedback gained significantly higher marks for finished work, this cannot be directly attributed to receipt/use of feedback as analysis suggests generally more able students are more likely to submit more complete drafts, which leads us to ask the question, are we simply helping better students to perform even better? Audio feedback was reported as clear, engaging and helpful; however, timing of feedback (before formal submission) may be of greater importance in terms of impact on attainment than the audio format. We suggest a model that focuses efforts on formative feedback (in advance of formal submission) and selective provision of summative feedback (targeted feed forward). © 2013 G. Scott, The Higher Education Academy
Supporting Art and Design student transition into Higher Education
No full textIn 2007 the UK National Audit Office reported retention levels as an important factor in measuring university success. It also reported institutional variations in withdrawal themes concluding that some differences were likely to relate to how well individual institutions were helping students to deal with the challenges of study in HE. As a great deal of research has found retention to be related to student satisfaction, and this in turn to be primarily dependent upon student preparedness and their expectations many institutions have focused on enhancing this area of the student experience. This paper raises awareness of the predominant role of emotions and social interactions in art and design pedagogy and describes the development and implementation of an online portal designed to support a cohort of students about to undertake a BA (Hons) Fashion Design and Technology programme. Support was designed to promote early induction and engagement and to assist in student’s preparation, six weeks before arriving at university. The project followed the ADDIE development model and adopted a multi-phase sequential mixed methods research strategy. Evaluation of this project inter-mixed focus groups and semi-structured questionnaires over five key research phases targeted at appropriate stages of the ADDIE development model
Providing students with an easystart to higher education: The emerging role of digital technologies to facilitate students' transitions
No full textThe transition to higher education can be problematic for some students as they adapt to institutional procedures and degree level working at the same time as developing new social networks. To help facilitate these complex transitions institutions are increasingly turning towards digital technologies to provide both flexible access to resources and improved communication. This paper outlines the key issues associated with students' initial transitions to higher education and explores the challenges faced by academics designing induction procedures and programmes. The emerging role of digital technologies in supporting students' transitions into Higher Education, against the backdrop of a changing digital landscape in one institution is discussed and an evaluation of the easystart induction programme at Manchester Metropolitan University presented as a case study
Piezoelectric Pressure Transducer with Acoustic Absorbing Rod
No full textA piezoelectric pressure transducer has been designed, using readily available, inexpensive materials, which is capable of measuring sidewall pressures over a wide frequency range without serious distortion of the signal due to spurious elastic waves in the sensing element. The rise time is limited primarily by the transit time across the surface of the sensing element. The response of the gauge to a Mach 3.2 shock, gaseous detonations at pressure levels of 11 and 34 atm, respectively, is presented.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70546/2/RSINAK-38-6-740-1.pd
Author Correction: Grooved electrodes for high-power-density fuel cells
No full textCorrection to: Nature Energy. Published online 25 May 2023. This paper was originally published under a standard Springer Nature license (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited). It is now available as an open-access paper under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license, © The Author(s). The error has been corrected in the online version of the article
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Membrane remodeling in epsilon proteobacteria and its impact on pathogenesis
No full texttextBacterial pathogens assemble complex surface structures in an attempt to circumvent host immune detection. A great example is the glycolipid known as lipopolysaccharide or lipooligosaccharide (LPS), the major surface molecule in nearly all gram-negative organisms. LPS is anchored to the bacterial cell surface by a anionic hydrophobic lipid known as lipid A, the major agonist of the mammalian TLR4-MD2 receptor and likely target for cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) secreted by host cells (i.e. defensins). In this work we investigate LPS modification machinery in related ε-proteobacteria, Helicobacter pylori and Campylobacter jejuni, two important human pathogens, and demonstrate that enzymes involved in LPS modification not only play a role in evasion of host defenses but also an unexpected role in bacterial locomotion. More specifically, we identify the enzyme responsible for 4'-dephosphorylation of H. pylori lipid A, LpxF. Demonstrating that lipid A depohsphorylation at the 1 and 4'-positions by LpxE and LpxF, respectively, are the primary mechanisms used by H. pylori for CAMP resistance, contribute to attenuated TRL4-MD2 activation and are required for colonization of a the gastric mucosa in murine host. Similarly in C. jejuni, we identify an enzyme, EptC, responsible for modification of lipid A at both the 1 and 4'-positions with phosphoethanolamine (pEtN), also required for CAMP resistance in this organism. Suprisingly, EptC was found to serve a dual role in modifying not only lipid A with pEtN but also the flagellar rod protein FlgG at residue Thr75, required for motility and efficient flagella production. This work links membrane biogenesis with flagella assembly, both shown to be required for colonization of a host and adds to a growing list of post-translational modifications found in prokaryotes. Understanding how pathogens evade immune detection, interphase with the surrounding environment and assemble major surface features is key in the development of novel treatments and vaccines.Microbiolog
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