Rip currents in the UK: incident analysis, public awareness, and education

Chapter 3 has been published as conference proceedings in the Journal of Coastal Research, and Chapter 4 has been published in the International Journal of Aquatic Research and EducationRip currents present a severe hazard to water users worldwide, resulting in over 100 drownings and thousands of lifeguard rescues annually. This thesis examines the demographics of who is effected by rip currents in the UK, what activity they are undertaking, when and where incidents occur, how much the public know, what people have experienced, and how best to educate them. Analysis of 7909 rip current lifeguard rescues (16777 people) across the UK between 2006-2013 highlighted the most at risk group, and subsequent target audience for education, to be male teenagers aged between 13-17 years old (n=2906, 17%). Geographically, the highest incidents occurred on the beaches in the Southwest of England (n=6911, 87%). Incidents mostly occurred outside of lifeguard flagged areas (n=4302, 54%) and mainly involved those using bodyboards (n=5290, 52%). Through the analysis of 407 public beach-based rip current and beach safety questionnaires, it was established that beach users have a poor understanding of rip currents (n=263, 65%) but a good perception of the beach safety flags (n=389, 96%). People with greater knowledge were typically educated by a lifeguard, enter the sea more frequently or have been caught in rip currents themselves. The experiences of 553 people caught in rip currents were analysed using an online questionnaire. The gender split was 69% male (n= 382) to 31% female (n= 171), indicating that males are caught in rip currents more than females. Swimming directly to shore against the rip followed an initial panic (n=108, 34%) for most people caught in a rip. Swimming parallel to the beach was the most remembered, advised, utilised, and promoted safety message. Respondents advocated the use of lifeguards to disseminate rip current safety messages. A new and unique rip current education programme was developed from the synthesis of these results. A lifeguard delivered a pilot programme to 185 teenagers in three schools and two community groups in the Southwest of England. This interactive pilot consisted of exercises using videos, photographs, news reports, and a swimming machine. Levels of rip current knowledge were evaluated before and after, and at regular intervals, to assess knowledge retention. The short-term effects after 3 months were positive, showing statistically significant (p<0.0005) improvements in mean knowledge levels. This thesis provides a new contribution to the expanding field of social and behavioural rip current research. The development of a unique rip current education programme presents an alternative method for increasing public awareness, and supports the worldwide prevention of rip current incidents and fatalities.Royal National Lifeboat Institution and The Marine Institut

Bracelet with pulsometer and float that allows the users ascend to the surface of the water

Treball Final de Grau en Enginyeria en Disseny Industrial i Desenvolupament de Productes. Codi: DI1048. Curs acadèmic 2018/2019The object for the course DI 1048 end-of-degree project is to create a floating device that can take someone to the water surface in dangerous situations. By gauging certain parameters, this device will be capable of determining when the user is at risk of drowning. The device will inflate the floating device allowing the user to ascend to the surface. Potential consumers to which it will be aimed will be athletes or sport fans. Moreover, both the most appropriate location to place the floating device, and whether it will be manually operated or automatically launched will be studied in this project

Getting Deep: Experiences of New Zealand Bodyboarders

Since the mid 1990s, a growing body of literature on lifestyle sports has produced fresh insights into the nuances, esoteric terminology and social dynamics in an array of lifestyle sport cultures. While surf culture has gained considerable attention from both sociologists and historians, the voices of bodyboarders have been minimal. Reflecting perceptions held by many in mainstream society, the literature on surf culture tended to marginalize bodyboarding participants, deeming the activity fit for children or teenagers. Therefore, this project addresses the gap in academic literature on surf culture by adopting a socio-cultural, qualitative approach to give voice to bodyboarders, by revealing some of the complexities within bodyboarding culture, and revealing power relations operating between surfers and bodyboarders in the surf. As a three-time world amateur champion female bodyboarder of both Maori and Samoan heritage, I was particularly interested to understand experiences of gender and ethnicity in relation to bodyboarding. Therefore, I conducted semi-structured interviews with eight bodyboarders living in New Zealand. To analyse data from the interviews, I employed Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts of habitus, field and capital to explore bodyboarding with the intent of presenting fresh perspectives relating to masculinity and femininity, and experiences of Maori, Pacific Island and New Zealand European bodyboarders. The participants revealed embodied characteristics of the bodyboarder as well as a variety of strategies used to negotiate space in the surf field. The experiences of female participants resonated with current literature where opportunities to gain respect were limited based on their marginal position in the male-dominated lifestyle sport culture. While some female participants successfully negotiated space within the surf field, male bodyboarders revealed other difficulties due to the hyper-masculinity of stand-up surfing culture, and the marginal position of bodyboarders. In specifically examining the experiences of Maori and Pacific Island participants, I argue that a unique form of cultural capital exists in which respect, courtesy and fairness were given more value than demonstrations of physical capital. Adopting a socio-cultural approach to analyse the operations of power in the surf field, and particularly how gender and ethnicity affect the experiences of New Zealand bodyboarders, this research project brings “new value to identities and experiences that are marginalized and stigmatized by the larger culture” (Denzin, 2002, p. 486)

In margins and in longings ...: the beach in Australian life and literature

Muitos ativos farmacêuticos (APIs) são administrados usando formulações sólidas, por exemplo comprimidos e cápsulas por serem geralmente mais estáveis e seguras. No estado sólido, o mesmo API pode apresentar diferentes formas – polimorfos do composto puro, solvatos, sais e co-cristais – que podem ter diferentes propriedades físico-químicas. Portanto, entender, e se possível controlar, a química do estado sólido de APIs, constitui um importante objetivo no desenvolvimento de formulações farmacêuticas. O trabalho desenvolvido nesta dissertação assenta sobre um ativo quiral, o levetiracetam, o enantiómero (S) do etiracetam, caracterizado farmacologicamente pela sua atividade anticonvulsivante. O trabalho encontra-se dividido em duas etapas, a primeira das quais incidiu na investigação de polimorfismo do levetiracetam. Não se encontra na literatura, referência a quaisquer polimorfos deste ativo. Foram estudados sólidos obtidos por cristalização do composto em três solventes (clorofórmio, etanol e metanol) e também por arrefecimento de fundidos. Como métodos de estudo foram utilizados a calorimetria diferencial de varrimento (DSC), termogravimetria (TG) termomicroscopia com luz polarizada (PLTM), difração de raios-X de pó (XRPD), espetroscopia de infravermelho com refletância total atenuada (FTIR-ATR), imagiologia de infravermelho e de Raman. Dos resultados obtidos foi possível registar, pela primeira vez, evidências da existência de polimorfismo, nomeadamente em amostras preparadas por arrefecimento de fundidos. A segunda etapa deste trabalho incidiu na investigação de co-cristais de levetiracetam. Um co-cristal farmacêutico é composto pelo menos por dois compostos (que quando puros são sólidos à temperatura ambiente), com estequiometria definida, unidos, geralmente por ligações intermoleculares de hidrogénio. Os co-cristais possuem vantagens quando comparados a solvatos e podem ser obtidos, ao contrário dos sais, mesmo que o API não possua grupos ionizáveis, como é o caso do levetiracetam. Foram investigados como co-formadores anti-inflamatórios não-esteróides (NSAIDs), ibuprofeno, naproxeno, cetoprofeno e flurbiprofeno, todos eles pertencentes à classe II do BCS, os quais possuem grupos funcionais capazes de formar heterossintões supramoleculares viáveis com o levetiracetam. Usaram-se quer os racematos dos quatro NSAIDs, quer os enantiómeros S dos três primeiros. As misturas binárias levetiracetam:NSAIDs foram obtidas por mecanoquímica, sem adição de solvente. Pretendia-se avaliar a potencialidade desta metodologia para promover co-cristalização enantiosseletiva/diastereosseletiva partindo de racematos do tipo composto racémico usando levetiracetam como agente de resolução. Dada a importância que outras misturas binárias Lev:NSAIDs poderão ter em aplicação farmacêutica (por exemplo, eutéticos), xi v construíram-se os diagramas de fases binários/pseudo-binários para os sistemas em estudo. Obteve-se no sistema levetiracetam:(S)-ibuprofeno um co-cristal (1:1), com fusão incongruente, identificando-se, também um eutético, , Tfus = 42,0ºC. Para todos os sistemas investigados (com exceção do (S)-cetoprofeno) foi possível caracterizar misturas eutéticas com potencial para aplicação farmacêutica: Lev:(R,S)-Ibu ( , Tfus = 47,2 ºC); Lev:(S)-Npx ( , Tfus = 82,1 ºC); Lev:(R,S)-Npx ( , Tfus = 82,0 ºC) e Lev:(S)-Kp ( , Tfus = 49,8 ºC). A mecanoquímica, nas condições utilizadas neste trabalho, não foi eficiente para promover co-cristalização enantiosseletiva/diastereosselectiva partindo dos racematos dos NSAIDs investigados e usando levetiracetam como agente de resolução. Iniciaram-se ensaios de estabilidade acelerados nas condições indicadas pela ICH Harmonised Tripartite Guideline: Stability testing of new drugs substances and products Q1A(R2) sobre o co-cristal 1:1 Lev:(S)-Ibu e sobre a mistura eutética obtida para este sistema. Os resultados indicam que o co-cristal é estável nas condições ensaiadas. Palavras-chave: Levetiracetam, polimorfismo, co-cristal farmacêutico, anti-inflamatórios não-esteróides, co-cristalização enantiosseletiva, DSC, XRPD, FTIR-ATR, PLTM, TG, imagiologia de infravermelho, imagiologia de Raman, ensaios de estabilidade

An evaluation of teachers and students in high schools: knowledge of first aid and resuscitation

The aim of this study was twofold. Firstly, to investigate the number of teachers with Resuscitation training and secondly, to identify how many students are receiving Resuscitation instruction while at school. Presently, there is no uniformity in the method of First Aid and Resuscitation instruction for students in New South Wales High Schools. Current epidemiological data suggest that the selected region examined in this study is representative of the state of New South Wales. The author posits Resuscitation skills as an essential part of schooling and daily living. The teacher/student relationship is such that the teacher is under a duty of care requiring, among other things, that the teacher knows Resuscitation skills in case of an emergency

Mindset Shift in Cyber Pedagogy: A Teacher's Strategy upon Learning from Home

As Covid 19 pandemic hits Indonesia, teaching-learning activities change dramatically. Learning from home becomes the only alternative in conducting distance education. From the earlier, this cyber pedagogy is assumed as an emergency step taken by the government. Consequently, teachers hold the learning process without clear objectives. Many complaints have occurred, and some improvements are proceeded to reinvent the quality of education. As a radical response toward the chaotic situation, this article is aimed at investigating two significant issues. The first is the requirement of mindset shift as the way to solve the cyber pedagogical problem. The second is the teachers' strategy in doing online learning. Theories about distance learning and quality are referred to as library research does. A descriptive qualitative approach was carried out, and in-depth interviews with parents, students, and teachers were taken. The result of the discussion is the mindset shift in teachers, parents, and stakeholders is required. The creative teachers who have good literacy in information technology are needed in running e-learning and conduct interactive learning from home

Monarch

Fall 2011 issue of Monarch, the Old Dominion University Magazine. Subtitled: Homecoming: School Spirit in Photos 2011https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/monarchmag/1009/thumbnail.jp