Monitoring changes in skin temperature associated with exercise in horses on a water treadmill by use of infrared thermography

Infrared thermography (IRT) was used to assess surface temperature change as an indirect measure of muscle activity and exercise associated changes in blood flow in the working hind limb muscles of horses (n¼7) undergoing water tread mill exercise. Three treatments were investigated including the treadmill ran dry (TD), water at the height of the proximal interphalangeal joint (PIP) and water at the height of the carpus (CP). Maximum skin surface temperature was recorded from the region of these mitendinosus muscle during exercise at each water height. There was a significant difference in surface hind limb temperature between exercise on the water treadmill ran dry and with water at the height of the PIP and CP (Po0.0001) with hotter temperatures recorded during the TD treatment. There was a greater increase in surface temperature of the hind limbs from preexercise to maximum temperature during the PIP and CP treatments when compared to the TD treatment, however, this was not significant (P¼0.58). There was no significant difference in surface hind limb temperature found between exercise in water at the height of the PIP and water at the height of the CP. The findings from this study suggest that IRT is able to non-invasively detect muscle activity and associated changes in blood flow whilst horses are exercised on a water treadmill. IRT could potentially be used as an alternative method to assess muscle activity and temperature change in an aquatic environment where existing methods present methodological challenges

Tests on field welded puddle and fillet weld connections

INTRODUCTION This report contains the results of tests on 122 field welded connections. Most of the specimens are approximately the same as those that were shop welded previously and tested. The results of tests on shop welded specimens are given in Ref. 2. Those field welded specimens that do not correspond to the shop welded specimens are indicated in Table lA. Except as noted, all notations, variables, weld configurations and procedures are identical with those in Ref. 2. All specimens were tested in a hydraulic test machine under monotonically increasing slowly applied tensile force. This report differs from Ref. 2 in the following respects. No stresses are computed either for cover plate or for weld areas. Only the ultimate loads are recorded and no attempt was made to record the lower loads at final separation. However, whether the specimen separated at a signicant load (brittle failure) or gradually with the load dropping often to zero is noted. All geometrical dimension designations are the same as those shown in figures la-lf in Ref. 1, except that in the C and H groups, the plate length has been replaced by the average longitudinal distance between the inside ends or the edges of the welds respectively (ea or ec). Connected plates are referred to in this report as parent plates. Section 4 describes circumstances of weld failure. Table 1a gives the designations and some properties of the different types of specimens tested. Tables 2 and 3 give material properties. Succeeding tables present geometric dimensions and experimental data tor each group. Table 10 compares the test results on field and shop welded specimens. Figures 1 through 27 give typical load-elongation curves for each series within each group

Juvenile Probationers, Restitution Payments, and Empathy: An Evaluation of a Restorative Justice Based Program in Northeastern Pennsylvania

Restitution programs are widely used to hold offenders accountable for their actions while providing restoration to victims and community service. However, compliance with restitution requirements is a major problem, as reported by juvenile probation offices across the country. The Firewood Program was developed for juvenile probationers in a rural Pennsylvania county to improve the completion rate of restitution payments to victims and provide community service. This study examines the effectiveness of the restitution program, which was measured as an increase in the offender's level of empathy and shorter completion times of restitution payments.

Evaluation of thermal pattern distributions in racehorse saddles using infrared thermography

The impact of a rider’s and saddle’s mass on saddle thermal pattern distribution was evalu ated using infrared thermography (IRT). Eighteen racehorses were ridden by four riders with their own saddle. Images of the saddle panels were captured at each of six thermographic examinations. On each image, six regions of interest (ROIs) were marked on the saddle panels. The mean temperature for each ROI was extracted. To evaluate the influence of load on saddle fit, 4 indicators were used: ΔTmax (difference between the mean temperature of the warmest and coolest ROI); standard deviation of the mean temperature of the six ROIs; right/left; bridging/rocking and front/back thermal pattern indicator. Incorrect saddle fit was found in 25 measurements (23.1%) with ΔTmax greater than 2˚C. The relationships between rider and saddle fit as well as saddle fit and horse were significant (p<0.001). An average ΔTmax in rider A was significantly higher than in other riders (p<0.001). The right/left thermal pattern differed significantly from the optimal value for riders A and B; while the bridging/rocking thermal pattern differed significantly from this value for riders A, C and D (p<0.05). Front saddle thermal pattern was most frequent for rider A (41.5%), whereas back saddle thermal pattern was most frequent for rider C (85.7%). Measurement of the mean temperature in 6 ROIs on saddle panels after training was helpful in assessing the influence of rider and saddle mass on saddle fit. IRT offered a non-invasive, rapid and simple method for assessing load on thermal pattern distribution in race saddles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A citizen science based survey method for estimating the density of urban carnivores

Globally there are many examples of synanthropic carnivores exploiting growth in urbanisation. As carnivores can come into conflict with humans and are potential vectors of zoonotic disease, assessing densities in suburban areas and identifying factors that influence them are necessary to aid management and mitigation. However, fragmented, privately owned land restricts the use of conventional carnivore surveying techniques in these areas, requiring development of novel methods. We present a method that combines questionnaire distribution to residents with field surveys and GIS, to determine relative density of two urban carnivores in England, Great Britain. We determined the density of: red fox (Vulpes vulpes) social groups in 14, approximately 1km2 suburban areas in 8 different towns and cities; and Eurasian badger (Meles meles) social groups in three suburban areas of one city. Average relative fox group density (FGD) was 3.72 km-2, which was double the estimates for cities with resident foxes in the 1980’s. Density was comparable to an alternative estimate derived from trapping and GPS-tracking, indicating the validity of the method. However, FGD did not correlate with a national dataset based on fox sightings, indicating unreliability of the national data to determine actual densities or to extrapolate a national population estimate. Using species-specific clustering units that reflect social organisation, the method was additionally applied to suburban badgers to derive relative badger group density (BGD) for one city (Brighton, 2.41 km-2). We demonstrate that citizen science approaches can effectively obtain data to assess suburban carnivore density, however publicly derived national data sets need to be locally validated before extrapolations can be undertaken. The method we present for assessing densities of foxes and badgers in British towns and cities is also adaptable to other urban carnivores elsewhere. However this transferability is contingent on species traits meeting particular criteria, and on resident responsiveness

Peak positions and shapes in neutron pair correlation functions from powders of highly anisotropic crystals

The effect of the powder average on the peak shapes and positions in neutron pair distribution functions of polycrystalline materials is examined. It is shown that for highly anisotropic crystals, the powder average leads to shifts in peak positions and to non-Gaussian peak shapes. The peak shifts can be as large as several percent of the lattice spacing

Application of the random encounter model in citizen science projects to monitor animal densities

Abundance and density are vital metrics for assessing a species’ conservation status and for developing effective management strategies. Remote-sensing cameras are being used increasingly as part of citizen science projects to monitor wildlife, but current methodologies to monitor densities pose challenges when animals are not individually recognisable. We investigate the use of camera traps and the Random Encounter Model (REM) for estimating the density of West European hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus) within a citizen science framework. We evaluate the use of a simplified version of the REM in terms of the parameters’ estimation (averaged versus survey-specific) and asses it’s potential application as part of a large-scale, long-term citizen science project. We compare averaged REM estimates to those obtained via Spatial Capture-Recapture (SCR) using data from nocturnal spotlight surveys. There was a high degree of concordance in REM-derived density estimates from averaged parameters versus those derived from survey-specific parameters. Averaged REM density estimates were also comparable to those produced by SCR at 8 out of 9 sites; hedgehog density was 7.5 times higher in urban (32.3 km-2) versus rural (4.3 km2) sites. Power analyses indicated that the averaged REM approach would be able to detect a 25% change in hedgehog density in both habitats with >90% power. Furthermore, despite the high start-up costs associated with the REM method, it would be cost-effective in the long term. The averaged REM approach is a promising solution to the challenge of large-scale and long-term species monitoring. We suggest including the REM as part of a citizen science monitoring project, where participants collect data and researchers verify and implement the required analysis