Business Communication Practices From Employers’ Perspectives

This study investigates the meaning of communication skills from employers’ perspectives. Students enrolled in a business communication course were asked to contact potential employers in their fields of interest, requesting information about important communication skills in those fields. Using content analysis, two coders familiar with business communication analyzed 52 of the resulting open-ended responses. The analysis of 165 skills suggests employers recall oral communication more frequently than written, visual, or electronic communication skills. Of oral communication subskills, interpersonal communication was mentioned more than other workplace communication skills

Vocation for Vocations Sake

Under the Coalition Government the Education system within the UK was subject to much change and the Further Education section was among the most affected. With the funding strategy changes, the move from established National Qualification Framework (NQF) courses to Qualification Credit framework (QCF) caused disruption and the end to the traditional vocational model in some disciplines. It is on course model changes in IT and the attempt to identify the delivery of robust vocational skills that this dissertation will focus. This research will present a curriculum model that maps to a teaching framework for developing computing practical or computer / Information Technology (IT) / network engineering (vocational) skills at level 3, which has developed in response to external levers. This study compares the experiences of learners within the context of their Level 3 IT vocational course from two Further Education Colleges in the North of England. This research is based upon empirical research and experience conducted while teaching the curriculum, is a theoretical model of best practice and identifies a holistic view of skills development throughout the IT curriculum in response to changes in college, Government and economic policy. The paper will critically assess this Vocational Education and Training (VET) model, using a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data including survey data, interview findings, examination of qualifications frameworks material also the student experience, success rates etc, to determine the success or otherwise of this IT VET model. This research aims to contribute to existing knowledge in the following areas: • The study will examine Government Education policy interventions and initiatives from 2010 to 2014 which are directly related to the provision of VET at level 3 for 16+ learners. • It will further attempt to identify coherence through courses by the exam boards pre and post the policy changes in terms of assessment methods • The case study will present a report on an empirical enquiry undertaken in 2010-2015 under the Coalition Government which examines the relationship with VET in IT at level 3 and skills transfer at two Further Education Colleges in the North. • The intention is to establish if the evidence of skills transfer on the vocational level 3 IT programs support the theory of improving the economic market in supplying a skilled workforce and looks at the interaction and interface between the level 3 IT provision and progression The paper will consider how the identified external levers affect the structure and delivery of vocational curriculum so that a deeper understanding may be reached

Host defence peptides in pregnancy: influences on the microbiome and preterm labour

Although inflammation is a crucial mechanism in response to injury and pathogen clearance, inappropriate or excessive induction of the inflammatory response in pregnancy can cause initiation of the labour cascade and subsequent preterm delivery. Host Defence Peptides (HDPs) have important anti-microbial properties but are also implicated as multifunctional modulators of immunity and infection. They are predominantly secreted by mucosal epithelial cells and released by leukocytes. The specific HDPs that are the focus of this thesis are Human beta-defensin 3 (hBD3) and Human Cathelicidin (hCAP-18/LL-37). The immunomodulatory effect of HDPs in reproductive tissues in response to infection/inflammation has not been well studied. In a pregnant state, the hypothesis of this thesis is that HDPs have a dual role in preventing ascending infection, but also preventing an exacerbated inflammatory response that can cause preterm birth by initiation of the labour cascade. To explore this I determine whether bacterial stimuli can regulate HDPs expression in pregnancy tissues. I also explore what interactions HDPs have on the production/induction of important cytokines that are vital to the inflammatory response. With the aid of HDP knockout mice, the role of these peptides in infection/inflammation and continuation of pregnancy is investigated in a mouse-model of induced preterm-labour. To understand how ascending infection might be controlled by HDPs in pregnancy, I explore how HDPs regulate commensal and pathogenic bacteria. This is achieved by interrogating the maternal microbiome at mucosal sites in HDP knockout animals, utilising the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and next generation sequencing. Results Placental explants respond to Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge by increasing production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. LL-37 but not hBD3 peptide was able to modulate this inflammation by inhibiting the release of these pro-inflammatory cytokines. To establish whether HDPs are critical in the continuation of pregnancy I use a LPS induced mouse–model of preterm labour in animals lacking the genes for the HDPs, Defb14 (Defb14-/-), or Camp (Camp-/-). Intrauterine injection of LPS induced preterm labour in wildtype mice. However, the Defb14-/- and Camp-/- mice do not have an increased rate of preterm labour. Key inflammatory mediators are increased in response to LPS-induced PTL. Camp-/- animals have a similar inflammatory response to wildtype mice when given LPS during pregnancy. To understand how ascending infection might be controlled by HDPs, I interrogated the maternal microbiome at mucosal sites in HDP knockout animals, utilising the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. I established a workflow for 16S rRNA gene sequencing on next-generation sequencing platforms and a bioinformatic pipeline for data analysis. Using this approach I was able to show the mucosal microbiome of Camp-/- animals were significantly different to that of wildtype controls, showing increased diversity in the microbes present. In murine pregnancy, there were very little global cumulative or progressive shifts in bacteria, with the exception of Candidatus arthromitus, which significantly increases with gestation compared to non-pregnancy This thesis has demonstrated that Host Defence Peptides are expressed in pregnancy tissues and have anti-inflammatory properties in response to bacterial stimuli. It is not clear whether the HDPs, hBD3 and LL-37 are fundamental to the immune defence in pregnancy by preventing excessive inflammation, Although, I have shown LL-37 may have a role in modulation of the maternal microbiota

Equity Evaluation of Sustainable Mileage-Based User Fee Scenarios

This paper examined equity changes from the imposition of a mileage-based user fee (MBUF) based on how revenue is collected as well as how it is spent. Using the 2009 National Household Travel Survey along with detailed transportation spending estimates, four scenarios were examined. A scenario where an MBUF is combined with a federal tax and includes a greater focus on maintenance spending was the most geographically equitable. Researchers also found that considering funding disbursement when examining the effect of a shift to an MBUF may change the equity of a funding option as compared to only examining revenue source

The effects of applying a transmissibility correction to data collected by a strap mounted accelerometer

Funding received from the University of Wolverhampton, Early Researcher Award Schem

Extracting nudge test parameters from noisy skin mounted accelerometer data

To correct for soft tissue artefacts in skin mounted accelerometers a transmissibility function can be applied to the data. This function is quantified by analysis of the acceleration-time data from the response to a nudge test; however this data can often be noisy. An application of Fourier analysis can be used to filter the acceleration-time data of the nudge test response. This allows accurate recreation of the signal to determine the required transmissibility function

Applying data correction to strap mounted accelerometers

The tissue underlying skin mounted accelerometers introduces errors to the data they collect [1]. As a consequence various data correction attempts have been made to minimise the effect of local tissue-accelerometer vibration [1,2]. However, accelerometers are not always mounted directly onto the skin. It is often impractical to do so for studies that measure activities during day-to-day living where strap mounting may be a more common attachment method. Therefore an understanding of the response of strap mounted accelerometers is also necessary. As the straps surround irregular shaped body segments strap mounted accelerometers may suffer from poor coupling when compared to skin mounted accelerometers, as well as additional vibration of the strap and pre-loading effects of tissue due to strap tension. This can be especially prevalent for straps around the waist, mounting accelerometers to measure motion at the spine. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the damped frequency (fd) and the logarithmic decrement (δ) of the local system (accelerometer, strap and local tissue) can be estimated so that the Smeathers’ method of data correction [2] can be applied to strap mounted accelerometers at the lumbar spine

ILL best practices: streamlining & greening

This program will provide ILL practitioners with ideas to help them streamline and green their operations. Key topics to be discussed will include streamlining with technology by using features of WorldCat Resource Sharing, Odyssey standalone, Article Exchange, etc.; streamlining manual workflows within IN-Share and Evergreen libraries and reducing waste in ILL by greening the process

Associations between bone loading due to daily activity and hip bone mass and structure

Bone loading due to daily physical activity over one week, was quantified from accelerometer data. Moderate-to-vigorous loading was positively associated with bone health of the left proximal femur. Adopting this level of activity in daily living may have sustained benefits for healthy ageing of bone

Epigenetic Tailoring for the Production of Anti-Infective Cytosporones from the Marine Fungus Leucostoma persoonii

Recent genomic studies have demonstrated that fungi can possess gene clusters encoding for the production of previously unobserved secondary metabolites. Activation of these attenuated or silenced genes to obtain either improved titers of known compounds or new ones altogether has been a subject of considerable interest. In our efforts to discover new chemotypes that are effective against infectious diseases, including malaria and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), we have isolated a strain of marine fungus, Leucostoma persoonii, that produces bioactive cytosporones. Epigenetic modifiers employed to activate secondary metabolite genes resulted in enhanced production of known cytosporones B (1, 360%), C (2, 580%) and E (3, 890%), as well as the production of the previously undescribed cytosporone R (4). Cytosporone E was the most bioactive, displaying an IC90 of 13 µM toward Plasmodium falciparum, with A549 cytotoxicity IC90 of 437 µM, representing a 90% inhibition therapeutic index (TI90 = IC90 A459/IC90 P. falciparum) of 33. In addition, cytosporone E was active against MRSA with a minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 72 µM and inhibition of MRSA biofilm at roughly half that value (minimum biofilm eradication counts, MBEC90, was found to be 39 µM)