THE RELIABILITY AND USEFULNESS OF BIOMECHANICAL MEASURES OF COUNTERMOVEMENT JUMP PERFORMANCE IN ELITE ROWERS

Countermovement jump performance and associated biomechanical variables are commonly used to monitor athletes’ neuromuscular function. The purpose of this study was to quantify the reliability and usefulness of these variables in a cohort of fourteen elite male rowers, and to apply these findings in individual athlete monitoring. Seven of the nine variables demonstrated acceptable reliability (CV \u3c 5%). Peak power was classified as OK for usefulness (CV ≈ SWC; signal-to-noise ratio ≈ 1) while all others were classified as poor. Within the athlete monitoring program, many of the observed changes in countermovement jump variables exceeded the threshold for interpretation of a clear change based on the signal-to-noise ratio. This study demonstrates the importance of understanding the reliability and usefulness measurements for accurate interpretation of monitoring data

Some studies on soluble and immobilised dehydrogenases

1. YADH was immobilised on two aminoethylcelluloses and their properties were compared. 2. Experimental conditions for the coupling of YADH to Cellex-AE were optimised; these conditions were used for immobilising LDH and MDH on Cellex-AE. 3. The effect of sodium borohydride reduction on the stability of YADH, LDH and MDH immobilised on Cellex-AE was studied. 4. The effect of pH on the stability of soluble YADH, LDH and MDH was studied. The results were compared to those for the three enzymes immobilised on Cellex-AE. 5. The effect of temperature on soluble YADH, LDH and MDH was compared to the effect of temperature on several immobilised derivatives of these enzymes. 6. YADH was immobilised on DEAE-cellulose. The pH variation of the kinetic parameters of the immobilised derivatives were compared to those of soluble YADH. 7. LDH was immobilised on both Cellex-AE and PEI. The kinetic parameters and stabilities of these two derivatives were compared. 8. LDH was immobilised on NP/3 Nylon Powder. The pH variation of the kinetic-parameters of the immobilised derivatives were compared to those of soluble LDH. 9. The change in equilibrium constant when YADH and LDH were immobilised on macromolecular supports was studied. A theory was developed to explain these changes

Space, sociomateriality, sound. The learning spaces of higher education

This thesis is concerned with the relationship between digital technology and the learning spaces of higher education. Across an academic year I observed and documented the learning spaces and practices that were emergent within undergraduate courses in American History and Architectural Design at a UK university. Drawing on field recordings, photographs and conversations with students and staff, and supported by theoretical work in sociomateriality, digital technologies were shown to be deeply implicated in the negotiation of learning spaces across and beyond the campus. I make three central arguments within this thesis. First, the presence and positioning of digital technologies within the classroom enacts particular epistemologies and power dynamics, although this manifests differently across courses of study. Second, the flow of data, combined with the proliferation of networked technologies, reconfigure the boundaries of the campus, as a single setting comes to accommodate a range of spatial identities. Third, digital technologies are complicit in the neoliberalisation and commodification of learning spaces, and the educational practices that are performed in those settings. In order to make these arguments I have looked to the critical and methodological value of sound, often in conjunction with images and other data. Sonic methods and materials have been largely overlooked within education research and yet, as I demonstrate, the digital reproduction of sound helps academic staff to enact authority over a classroom, and supports students as they seek to establish and configure personalised learning spaces. In giving due attention to the role of the audible within my research, this thesis is presented in richly multimodal form where argumentation is advanced through a juxtaposition of written commentary, photography and field recordings. This thesis make an original contribution to scholarship in digital education, sound studies and social science methodology. Further value is to be found in the potential to inform the thinking and practice of designers, teachers, educational technologists and institutional managers as they conceptualise and construct spaces for learning

Association of radial longitudinal deficiency and thumb hypoplasia: An update using the CoULD registry

BACKGROUND: Deficiency of the radial aspect of the forearm and hand is the most common congenital longitudinal deficiency of the upper limb. Radial longitudinal deficiency is associated with several named syndromes. The purpose of the present study was to explore patterns of radial longitudinal deficiency and thumb hypoplasia in syndromes and to examine the severity of these differences across various syndromes. METHODS: Data were collected from the Congenital Upper Limb Differences (CoULD) registry. Congenital differences are classified in the registry with use of the Oberg-Manske-Tonkin (OMT) classification system. Diagnosis of a syndrome by a physician as noted in the CoULD registry was recorded. Thumb deficiency and radial deficiency were classified according to the modified versions of the Blauth criteria and the Bayne and Klug criteria, respectively. RESULTS: We identified 259 patients with 383 affected limbs with radial deficiency. Eighty-three of these patients had a diagnosed syndrome. The severity of radial deficiency was correlated with the severity of thumb deficiency. The Kendall tau coefficient indicated significant correlation between radial severity and thumb severity (tau = 0.49 [95% confidence interval = 0.40 to 0.57]; p \u3c 0.05). Subjects with a syndrome were twice as likely to have bilateral deficiency and 2.5 times more likely to have both radial and thumb deficiency compared with subjects without a syndrome. Subjects with VACTERL syndrome (vertebral defects, anal atresia, cardiac anomalies, tracheoesophageal fistula, renal anomalies, and limb defects) had patterns of thumb and radial deficiency similar to the general cohort, whereas subjects with Holt-Oram syndrome, TAR (thrombocytopenia absent radius) syndrome, and Fanconi anemia demonstrated varied presentations of thumb and radial deficiency. CONCLUSIONS: The present study investigated the characteristics of patients with radial longitudinal deficiency and thumb hypoplasia. Our results support the findings of previous research correlating the severity of radial deficiency with the severity of thumb deficiency. Furthermore, we identified characteristic features of patients with radial longitudinal deficiency and associated syndromes

Novel B(Ar')2(Ar'') hetero-tri(aryl)boranes: a systematic study of Lewis acidity

A series of homo- and hetero-tri(aryl)boranes incorporating pentafluorophenyl, 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl, and pentachlorophenyl groups, four of which are novel species, have been studied as the acidic component of frustrated Lewis pairs for the heterolytic cleavage of H2. Under mild conditions eight of these will cleave H2; the rate of cleavage depending on both the electrophilicity of the borane and the steric bulk around the boron atom. Electrochemical studies allow comparisons of the electrophilicity with spectroscopic measurements of Lewis acidity for different series of boranes. Discrepancies in the correlation between these two types of measurements, combined with structural characterisation of each borane, reveal that the twist of the aryl rings with respect to the boron-centred trigonal plane is significant from both a steric and electronic perspective, and is an important consideration in the design of tri(aryl)boranes as Lewis acids

Personhood, consciousness, and god : how to be a proper pantheist

© Springer Nature B.V. 2018In this paper I develop a theory of personhood which leaves open the possibility of construing the universe as a person. If successful, it removes one bar to endorsing pantheism. I do this by examining a rising school of thought on personhood, on which persons, or selves, are understood as identical to episodes of consciousness. Through a critique of this experiential approach to personhood, I develop a theory of self as constituted of qualitative mental contents, but where these contents are also capable of unconscious existence. On this theory, though we can be conscious of our selves, consciousness turns out to be inessential to personhood. This move, I then argue, provides resources for responding to the pantheist’s problem of God’s person.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio