The 1972 miners' strike: popular agency and industrial politics in Britain

The national miners' strike of 1972 is central to contemporary British history: it undermined Edward Heath's Conservative government and sharpened social conflict; the common interpretation of the strike as a 'victory for violence', shown here to be disingenuous, legitimised the Thatcherite attack on organised labour in the 1980s. This article examines the high politics of the strike, but situates popular agency - the actions and attitudes of the miners - as the predominant historical contingency. This was especially so in the uproarious events documented at Longannet in Fife, which shaped the outcome of the strike. This analysis is related to the character of industrial politics more generally in the 1960s and 1970s

Self-reported health and cardiovascular reactions to psychological stress in a large community sample: Cross-sectional and prospective associations

Exaggerated cardiovascular reactions to acute psychological stress have been implicated in a number of adverse health outcomes. This study examined, in a large community sample, the cross-sectional and prospective associations between reactivity and self-reported health. Blood pressure and heart rate were measured at rest and in response to an arithmetic stress task. Self-reported health was assessed concurrently and five years later. In cross-sectional analyses, those with excellent/good self-reported health exhibited larger cardiovascular reactions than those with fair/poor subjective health. In prospective analyses, participants who had larger cardiovascular reactions to stress were more likely to report excellent/good health five years later, taking into account their reported health status at the earlier assessment. The findings suggest that greater cardiovascular reactivity may not always be associated with negative health outcomes

Development of a method to identify foot strike on an arena surface: application to jump landing

Foot strike can be difficult to determine using kinematics alone, particularly when studying equine activities on more compliant surfaces, so this study was done with the aim of developing and validating a method to determine foot strike on an arena surface that can be used in conjunction with kinematics alone, and of applying the method in the context of measuring foot strike during jump landing on an arena surface. A low-cost contact mat was developed. The timing of the contact mat switching ‘on’ was compared to the timing of a force platform onset of 20 N, load and loading rate at foot strike. Two groups of 25 participants were used in two separate studies to validate the contact mat: the first measured the difference in timing with respect to two different activities (running and stepping down from a box), and the second measured the difference in timing with respect to 1- and 2-cm depths of an arena surface during running. In a third study, the mat was used to measure leading limb foot strike of six horses during jump landing, and these data were compared to kinematics from a palmar marker on the hoof wall. All data were recorded at 500 Hz. A consistent difference in delay was found between the mat and force platform onset, and as a result, no significant differences (P>0.05) in timing delay between different loading rates or depths were found. During jump landing, foot strike (determined from the mat) occurred after the vertical velocity minima and the acceleration maxima for the hoof marker, but it occurred before the point where the rate of vertical displacement began to reduce. In conclusion, further work is needed to enhance these techniques, but these preliminary results indicate that this method may be effective in determining foot strike for field-based applications

Running Injuries Due to Strike Patterns

Running is a very repetitive activity that can lead to surmountable stresses to the body over time that could lead to injury. Running biomechanics can influence the effects that the body will experience. This paper will discuss the biomechanical effects that relate to two different strike patterns: rearfoot and forefoot. Research will be examined as to how the strike patterns can influence the major lower extremity joints: ankle, knee, and hip. Common injuries during running as related to strike pattern are also discussed through conclusions based on research studies

Review of the Lightning Strike Incident at Launch Complex 37 on July 27, 1967, and Comparison to a Gemini Lightning Strike

The Launch Complex 37 lightning strike of July 27, 1967, was reviewed and compared to a similar incident on the Gemini Program. Available data indicate little likelihood of damaging currents having been present in SA-204 Launch Vehicle or the ground equipment during the July 27th incident. Based on the results of subsystem and system testing after the strike, anticipated results of future testing, the six months elapsed time between the strike-and launch, and the fact that much of the critical airborne electrical/electronic equipment has been removed since the strike for other reasons, no new actions are considered necessary at this time in the Gemini case, significant failures occurred in both airborne and ground circuits. Due to the resultant semi, condlictor uncertainty, and the relatively' short time prior to planned launch, all critical airborne components containing semiconduetors were replaced, and a sophisticated data comparison task was implemented

Distribution of Trading Activity across Strike Prices in the DAX Index Options Market

In this paper we propose and estimate an econometric model for the distribution of trading activity across options written on the DAX index. The model is based on the observation that in this market options with strike prices ending on 000, 200, 400, 600 and 800 (the class of 200-strike options) are more traded than options with strike prices ending on 100, 300, 500, 700 and 900 (the class of 100-strike contracts). We assume that market participants who would like to trade a continuum of contracts have to choose between the options listed by the exchange. When they have to choose between two neighboring 200- and 100-strike contracts, they prefer the 200-strike contract if the degree of substitution between these two options is high. We derive an equation which links the trading volumes of the 200- and 100-strike options and the degree of substitution between them. This equation has convenient analytical properties and can be readily estimated from the data. The estimation results confirm the hypothesised effect of the degree of substitution on the distribution of trading between 200- and 100-strike contracts. Additionally, we are able to derive some quantitative estimates of the percentage of trades attracted to the 200-strike contracts.Market Microstructure, Options Volume

Shenzhen Workers Strike Again

This document is part of a digital collection provided by the Martin P. Catherwood Library, ILR School, Cornell University, pertaining to the effects of globalization on the workplace worldwide. Special emphasis is placed on labor rights, working conditions, labor market changes, and union organizing.CLW_2011_Report_China_Shenzhen_workers.pdf: 14 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020