Proceedings of Abstracts Engineering and Computer Science Research Conference 2019

© 2019 The Author(s). This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. For further details please see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Note: Keynote: Fluorescence visualisation to evaluate effectiveness of personal protective equipment for infection control is © 2019 Crown copyright and so is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Under this licence users are permitted to copy, publish, distribute and transmit the Information; adapt the Information; exploit the Information commercially and non-commercially for example, by combining it with other Information, or by including it in your own product or application. Where you do any of the above you must acknowledge the source of the Information in your product or application by including or linking to any attribution statement specified by the Information Provider(s) and, where possible, provide a link to this licence: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/This book is the record of abstracts submitted and accepted for presentation at the Inaugural Engineering and Computer Science Research Conference held 17th April 2019 at the University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK. This conference is a local event aiming at bringing together the research students, staff and eminent external guests to celebrate Engineering and Computer Science Research at the University of Hertfordshire. The ECS Research Conference aims to showcase the broad landscape of research taking place in the School of Engineering and Computer Science. The 2019 conference was articulated around three topical cross-disciplinary themes: Make and Preserve the Future; Connect the People and Cities; and Protect and Care

L'Auto-vélo : automobilisme, cyclisme, athlétisme, yachting, aérostation, escrime, hippisme / dir. Henri Desgranges

17 mars 19121912/03/17 (A13,N4171)

Diminutive fleet-footed tyrannosauroid narrows the 70-million-year gap in the North American fossil record

Lindsay Zanno et al. report the discovery of a new tyrannosaur that helps to fill in a 70 million year gap in the fossil record. This new species reveals that the earliest North American tyrannosaurs relied on speed and small body size to survive and that apex predator status and large body sizes were not reached until much later in their evolutionary history

Insight into the growth dynamics and systematic affinities of the Late Cretaceous Gargantuavis from bone microstructure

International audienc

A New Look at Ichthyosaur Long Bone Microanatomy and Histology: Implications for Their Adaptation to an Aquatic Life

Background Ichthyosaurs are Mesozoic reptiles considered as active swimmers highly adapted to a fully open-marine life. They display a wide range of morphologies illustrating diverse ecological grades. Data concerning their bone microanatomical and histological features are rather limited and suggest that ichthyosaurs display a spongious, “osteoporotic-like” bone inner structure, like extant cetaceans. However, some taxa exhibit peculiar features, suggesting that the analysis of the microanatomical and histological characteristics of various ichthyosaur long bones should match the anatomical diversity and provide information about their diverse locomotor abilities and physiology. Methodology/Principal Findings The material analyzed for this study essentially consists of mid-diaphyseal transverse sections from stylopod bones of various ichthyosaurs and of a few microtomographic (both conventional and synchrotron) data. The present contribution discusses the histological and microanatomical variation observed within ichthyosaurs and the peculiarities of some taxa (Mixosaurus, Pessopteryx). Four microanatomical types are described. If Mixosaurus sections differ from those of the other taxa analyzed, the other microanatomical types, characterized by the relative proportion of compact and loose spongiosa of periosteal and endochondral origin respectively, seem to rather especially illustrate variation along the diaphysis in taxa with similar microanatomical features. Our analysis also reveals that primary bone in all the ichthyosaur taxa sampled (to the possible exception of Mixosaurus) is spongy in origin, that cyclical growth is a common pattern among ichthyosaurs, and confirms the previous assumptions of high growth rates in ichthyosaurs. Conclusions/Significance The occurrence of two types of remodelling patterns along the diaphysis, characterized by bone mass decrease and increase respectively is described for the first time. It raises questions about the definition of the osseous microanatomical specializations bone mass increase and osteoporosis, notably based on the processes involved, and reveals the difficulty in determining the true occurrence of these osseous specializations in ichthyosaurs

The long bone histology of Ceresiosaurus (Sauropterygia, Reptilia) in comparison to other eosauropterygians from the Middle Triassic of Monte San Giorgio (Switzerland/Italy)

Ceresiosaurus is a secondarily marine reptile that lived during the Middle Triassic (Ladinian–Anisian) in a subtropical lagoonal environment with varying open marine influences. The genus comprises two species, Ceresiosaurus calcagnii and C. lanzi, and represents one of the largest vertebrate of up to 3-m snout-tail length from the UNESCO World Heritage site Monte San Giorgio, which is settled along the Swiss–Italian border. Earlier morphological studies identified this genus as basal sauropterygian still possessing many similarities with the plesiomorphic ancestral terrestrial condition. Interspecific morphological variation was interpreted as indicator for different habit(at) preferences by ascribing two locomotion types for each of the species. In this study, detailed data on the microstructure of the long bones are given and findings were put into a palaeoecological and phylogenetic context in comparison to other sauropterygians from Monte San Giorgio. Results showed that both Ceresiosaurus species retain a calcified cartilaginous core in the medullary region in at least young individuals. They both exhibit cyclical bone growth of lamellar to parallel-fibred bone matrices with undulating incremental growth marks and low to moderate vascularisation (lamellar-zonal bone tissue type). Interspecific variation comprises differences in the distribution of differently organised bone matrices and the size, orientation and number of vascularisation. The vascularisation pattern (abundance and orientation of the canals) of the pachyosteosclerotic long bones of C. calcagnii mostly resembles the histotype of the stratigraphically youngest pachypleurosaurid from Monte San Giorgio, Neusticosaurus edwardsii (except for the presence of primary osteons in the cortex of the former). The bone sample of C. lanzi is only osteosclerotic and most similar to young Nothosaurus (except for the irregular presence of fibrolamellar bone in the latter). The slightly different growth pattern already at young ontogenetic stages might be linked to a different mode of life within the restricted lagoonal basin for Ceresiosaurus, which supports previous studies on the morphological data that ascribed two different locomotion types

Evolutionary Patterns of Bone Histology and Bone Compactness in Xenarthran Mammal Long Bones

Bone microstructure reflects physiological characteristics and has been shown to contain phylogenetic and ecological signals. Although mammalian long bone histology is receiving increasing attention, systematic examination of the main clades has not yet been performed. Here we describe the long bone microstructure of Xenarthra based on thin sections representing twenty-two species. Additionally, patterns in bone compactness of humeri and femora are investigated. The primary bone tissue of xenarthran long bones is composed of a mixture of woven, parallel-fibered and lamellar bone. The vascular canals have a longitudinal, reticular or radial orientation and are mostly arranged in an irregular manner. Concentric rows of vascular canals and laminar organization of the tissue are only found in anteater bones. The long bones of adult specimens are marked by dense Haversian bone, a feature that has been noted for most groups of mammals. In the long bones of armadillos, secondary osteons have an oblique orientation within the three-dimensional bone tissue, thus resulting in their irregular shape when the bones are sectioned transversely. Secondary remodeling is generally more extensive in large taxa than in small taxa, and this could be caused by increased loading. Lines of arrested growth are assumed to be present in all specimens, but they are restricted to the outermost layer in bones of armadillos and are often masked by secondary remodeling in large taxa. Parameters of bone compactness show a pattern in the femur that separates Cingulata and Pilosa (Folivora and Vermilingua), with cingulates having a lower compactness than pilosans. In addition, cingulates show an allometric relationship between humeral and femoral bone compactness