Applying university strategic objectives at the school level

University Teachers at the School of Interdisciplinary Studies are working together on the Teaching, Learning and Participation Project. This project encompasses three strands: widening participation, student experience, and innovative learning and teaching; all key aspects of the University’s strategic objectives. The widening participation strand has focused primarily on partnership with local schools. This includes Campus Days whereby pupils who have the ability, but perhaps not the confidence, to enter higher education come to the University's two campuses and experience a day as a student. Additionally this strand is seeking to conduct a comparative study of assessment and feedback processes in secondary and higher education. The student experience strand has concentrated on employability and internationalisation. Examples include working with the local education authority to extend student learning and provide staff CPD opportunities via the establishment of an annual education lecture, and developing opportunities for internships overseas. Finally, the innovative learning and teaching strand has sought to review current teaching practices within the School, and to identify and trial innovative methodologies in an effort to engage learners more fully and thereby to enhance both the student and staff learning experiences

Editorial for the Special Issue on “Multidisciplinary Insights on Bone Healing”

: Animal and human bone damage can be considered differently according to a macro- or micro-level analysis [...]

the occurrence of deep pectoral myopathy in roaster chickens

A field study was conducted to determine the incidence of Deep Pectoral Myopathy (DPM) in male roaster chickens reared under intensive conditions, processed at different ages (from 47 to 65d), and belonging to two commercial genotypes (Ross508; Cobb500). The study was carried out in a major Italian processing plant on a total of 120,700 roaster chickens chosen at random from 151 flocks during a 6 months period. The evaluation of DPM was performed on Pectoralis minor muscles and consisted in a visual assessment of the presence/absence of the myopathy as well as the determination of muscle damage level as being in an "early" (hemorrhagic appearance) or "old" (grey/green discoloration) developing stage. The incidence of carcasses affected by DPM was found to be 0.84% (0.62 and 0.22% in early and old stages, respectively). The range in the incidence of total DPM was fairly large and varied from 0.0 to 16.7%. Considerable variations were also observed for early (range: 0.0 to 12,0%) and old (range: 0.0 to 5.6%) developing stages. Considering the effect of genotype, Ross508 exhibited a higher incidence of DPM in respect with Cobb500 roasters (1.27 vs. 0.35%; P < 0.01). This result was due to the higher incidence of carcasses affected by both early (0.94 vs. 0.26%; P < 0.01) and old (0.33 vs. 0.09%; P < 0.01) developing stages of DPM in Ross508 birds. In conclusions, this study has shown that the occurrence of Deep Pectoral Myopathy in male roaster chickens may be economically significant to the industry as a whole

Effect of free range production system on chicken carcass and meat quality traits

There is a growing consumer interest towards poultry products coming from unconventional housing systems with outdoor access. A study was conducted to characterize carcass traits and chemico-physical properties of chickens labelled free-range (according to the EC Directive 1538/91) if compared with conventional ones. Free range female (FR-F) and male (FR-M) chickens were separately raised for 56 and 70 d, respectively, in order to obtain currently marketed product categories. They belonged to medium growing Isa strain and had continuous daytime access to open-air area from 28 d to slaughter age and indoors stocking density did not exceed 27.5 kg/sqm. Conventional female (C-F) and male (C-M) chickens belonged to a fast growing hybrid (Ross 708) and were separately raised for 39 and 50 d, respectively, under intensive conditions in a poultry house under controlled environmental conditions at a stocking density of 30-32 kg/sqm. Females (FR-F and C-F) and male (FR-M and C-M) birds were slaughtered into 2 separate sessions. After slaughtering, 20 carcasses for each group (FR-F, 1.2 kg; FR-M, 1.9 kg; C-F, 1.2 kg; C-M, 2.3 kg) were randomly selected for evaluating carcass cut-up yields and fifteen of them were used to assess quality properties of both breast and leg meat (skin and meat colour, ultimate pH, drip and cooking losses, AK-shear force). C birds had dramatic higher carcass and breast meat yield, whereas FR had higher wing and leg yields (P &lt;0.001). Both meat and skin of breast and leg coming from FR birds were lighter and less red and more yellow (P &lt;0.001). Even if no difference were found in ultimate pH, FR birds exhibited higher water-holding capacity (lower drip and cooking losses) in both breast and leg meat (P &lt;0.01). Finally, although shear force did not differ in breast meat, leg from FR birds were tougher (P &lt;0.001). Overall these data indicate that noticeable quality trait differences exist between free range and conventional labelled poultry products

The oxygen-assisted transformation of propane to COx/H2 through combined oxidation and WGS reactions catalyzed by vanadium oxide-based catalysts

This paper reports about the gas-phase oxidation of propane catalyzed by bulk vanadium oxide and by alumina- and silica-supported vanadium oxide. The reaction was studied with the aim of finding conditions at which the formation of H2 and CO2 is preferred over that of CO, H2O and of products of alkane partial oxidation. It was found that with bulk V2O5 considerable amounts of H2 are produced above 400 8C, the temperature at which the limiting reactant, oxygen, is totally consumed. The formation of H2 derived from the combination of: (i) oxidation reactions, with generation of CO, CO2, oxygenates (mainly acetic acid), propylene and H2O, all occurring in the fraction of catalytic bed that operated in the presence of gas-phase oxygen, and (ii) WGS reaction, propane dehydrogenation and coke formation, that instead occurred in the fraction of bed operating under anaerobic conditions. This combination of different reactions in a single catalytic bed was possible because of the reduction of V2O5 to V2O3 at high temperature, in the absence of gas-phase oxygen. In fact, vanadium sesquioxide was found to be an effective catalyst for the WGS, while V2O5 was inactive in this reaction. The same combination of reactions was not possible when vanadium oxide was supported over high-surface area silica or alumina; this was attributed to the fact that in these catalysts vanadium was not reduced below the oxidation state V4+, even under reaction conditions leading to total oxygen conversion. In consequence, these catalysts produced less H2 than bulk vanadium oxide

The Oxidative Cleavage of 9,10-Dihydroxystearic Triglyceride with Oxygen and Cu Oxide-based Heterogeneous Catalysts

This paper deals with a new heterogeneous catalyst for the second step in the two-step oxidative cleavage of unsaturated fatty acids triglycerides derived from vegetable oil, a reaction aimed at the synthesis of azelaic and pelargonic acids. The former compound is a bio-monomer for the synthesis of polyesters; the latter, after esterification, is used in cosmetics and agrochemicals. The reaction studied offers an alternative to the currently used ozonization process, which has severe drawbacks in terms of safety and energy consumption. The cleavage was carried out with oxygen, starting from the glycol (dihydroxystearic acid triglyceride), the latter obtained by the dihydroxylation of oleic acid triglyceride. The catalysts used were based on Cu2+, in the form of either an alumina-supported oxide or a mixed, spinel-type oxide. The CuO/Al2O3 catalyst could be recovered, regenerated, and recycled, yielding promising results for further industrial exploitation

Integrated Cascade Process for the Catalytic Conversion of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural to Furanic and TetrahydrofuranicDiethers as Potential Biofuels

The depletion of fossil resources is driving the research towards alternative renewable ones. Under this perspective, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) represents a key molecule deriving from biomass characterized by remarkable potential as platform chemical. In this work, for the first time, the hydrogenation of HMF in ethanol was selectively addressed towards 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) or 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)tetrahydrofuran (BHMTHF) by properly tuning the reaction conditions in the presence of the same commercial catalyst (Ru/C), reaching the highest yields of 80 and 93 mol%, respectively. These diols represent not only interesting monomers but strategic precursors for two scarcely investigated ethoxylated biofuels, 2,5-bis(ethoxymethyl)furan (BEMF) and 2,5-bis(ethoxymethyl)tetrahydrofuran (BEMTHF). Therefore, the etherification with ethanol of pure BHMF and BHMTHF and of crude BHMF, as obtained from hydrogenation step, substrates scarcely investigated in the literature, was performed with several commercial heterogeneous acid catalysts. Among them, the zeolite HZSM-5 (Si/Al=25) was the most promising system, achieving the highest BEMF yield of 74 mol%. In particular, for the first time, the synthesis of the fully hydrogenated diether BEMTHF was thoroughly studied, and a novel cascade process for the tailored conversion of HMF to the diethyl ethers BEMF and BEMTHF was proposed

Efficacy of oral hyposensitization in allergic contact dermatitis caused by nickel

Background. Nickel contact allergy remains common in Western countries, and the dermatitis may require prolonged treatment. The development of new strategies aimed at improving the quality of life of affected individuals is needed. Objectives. To investigate the efficacy of oral hyposensitization in nickel-allergic individuals and how this affects in vitro T cell responsiveness to the metal. Methods. Twenty-eight nickel-allergic patients received a daily dose of 50 μg of elemental nickel (given as NiSO 4·6H 2O) in cellulose capsules for 3 months. Severity of clinical manifestations, in vivo nickel responsiveness and in vitro T cell responses to the metal were assessed after 1 and 3 months. Results. Twenty-six patients finished the study. In these patients, oral hyposensitization ameliorated clinical manifestations despite continued nickel exposures, and increased the threshold of skin responsiveness to nickel. The 12 enrolled patients in the immunological study showed decreased in vitro T lymphocyte responsiveness to the metal, in terms of both cell proliferation and cytokine release. In the 1-year follow-up, 50% of the patients experienced relapses of the clinical manifestations at sites of topical exposure to nickel. Conclusions. Our study suggested therapeutic efficacy of oral hyposensitization in allergic individuals. Placebo-controlled studies are required to confirm the results and determine the optimal therapeutic regimen for prolonged beneficial effects