Getting the Swing of Surface Gravity

Sports are a popular and effective way to illustrate physics principles. Baseball in particular presents a number of opportunities to motivate student interest and teach concepts. Several articles have appeared in this journal on this topic, illustrating a wide variety of areas of physics. In addition, several websites and an entire book are available. In this paper we describe a student-designed project that illustrates the relative surface gravity on the Earth, Sun and other solar-system bodies using baseball. We describe the project and its results here as an example of a simple, fun, and student-driven use of baseball to illustrate an important physics principle

Between Waste and Efficiency: Reading Virginia Woolf\u27s Orlando as Co-Operative Text

This paper reads Virginia Woolf\u27s biography/novel Orlando through an economic lens, specifically as a work influenced by the Co-operative Movements of the early twentieth century. Woolf viewed the dominant New Biography style of the 1920s, which was marked by short, modern character sketches and a compressed narrative structure, as complicit with a wider cultural trend towards efficiency. The efficiency ethos of the interwar period implied an explicitly capitalist, and implicitly imperialist, inclination towards the elimination of all that was wasteful in society, refining all cultural productions (including the literary) down to those which would produce the most profitable returns for the least effort. Bucking this trend, Woolf\u27s prose in Orlando is digressive and fantastical, and Woolf\u27s biographer/narrator often pokes fun at the impossibilities of an efficient literature. My paper argues that Orlando is Woolf\u27s attempt to create a textual economy that is guided by co-operative principles, not market forces. This hypothesis is corroborated by the fact that, during much of her literary career, Woolf was engaged in the Women\u27s Co-operative Guild, a feminist and anti-capitalist organization of predominantly working-class women from the English countryside. The WCG aimed to take economic power out of the hands of factory-owners and put it into the hands of household consumers -- who were largely, of course, women -- as well as advocate for women\u27s education and political expression. Orlando\u27s anti-imperial and anti-traditional-marriage arguments, her disavowal of textual efficiency, and the collaborative origins of the text itself, reflect the deep influence of the WCG and Co-operative economics in general on the biography/novel

The opportunities and challenges of using cricket as a sport-for-development tool in Samoa

This study investigates benefits and challenges associated with the use of sport – in this case cricket – as a community development tool in Samoa. This Pacific Island nation, like others in the region, has been the focus of various development programs in the post-colonial era, with developed economy neighbours like Australia and New Zealand providing aid funding. Some of that has involved sport as a development tool, underpinned either by funding from the national government, foreign aid agencies, or a combination of both. The present paper, by focusing on a cricket for development (CFD) program in Samoa, aims to explore outcomes and limitations associated with the use of sport as a community engagement tool. The paper pursues that goal by examining the activities of relevant sport and government organisations, and – most crucially – it interviews key stakeholders involved in the CFD process in Samoa. In short, the prime purpose of this paper is to identify and interpret – from the perspective of locals – whether the CFD program has brought benefits to Samoan communities, and the challenges and limitations they see thus far. This is important because, to date, there has been an absence of qualitative inquiry into the efficacy of sport for development (SFD) programs in Samoa, and very limited research in a Pacific Islands context

Youth organizations, social mobility and health in middle age: evidence from a Scottish 1950s prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Informal educational programmes focused on youth development appear to improve health and well-being at time of involvement. Less is known about long-term effects. We investigate their impact on self-reported general health in mid-life using the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s (ACONF) cohort. METHODS: We use a subset (n = 1333) of the ACONF cohort, born 1950–56, in Aberdeen Scotland, who took part in Family and Reading Surveys in 1964 and a follow-up questionnaire in 2001. We explore exposure to youth development focused clubs in childhood on self-reported general health around age 50 mediated by adult socioeconomic position. Logistic regression and mediation analysis were used to report odds ratios and natural direct and indirect effects, respectively, on multiply imputed data. RESULTS: Being a member of the Scouts/Guides (G&S) was associated with a 53% (95% confidence interval 1.03–2.27) higher odds of ‘excellent’ general health in adulthood compared to children attending ‘other clubs’. Indirect effects of G&S and Boys’/Girls’ Brigade (B&GB) on general health acting via higher socioeconomic position show positive associations; 12% and 6% higher odds of ‘excellent’ general health in adulthood compared to children attending ‘other clubs’, respectively. Comparison of indirect with direct effects suggests 27% of this association is mediated through a higher adult socioeconomic position in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest a beneficial association between attending G&S and B&GB clubs in childhood and adult general health. As these organizations are volunteer-led, this may represent a cost-effective method for improving population health

Intersection of art, advertising and protest in the public sphere

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-106).In the late 20th Century, a common strategy has developed among a small but highly visible cross section of artists. They create and enact transient events, 'interventions', in public spaces in a way that both refers to the spatial language of the site and offers a critique of its dominant values. What distinguishes their work even further is their reliance on the instruments of mass media, and their interest in redefining its capabilities: the projector, the electronic sign, and the billboard are three such instruments whose potential for communication in the city have been creatively mined in their service. By exploring the ways in which these technologies may be put to new uses within the urban domain, and doing so from an interrogative standpoint, so that values, both explicit and latent, are questioned, these artists begin a process of engagement with the viewer which works to redefine the functions of the site. The intersection of the artist, the instrument, and the public sphere act, momentarily, to challenge typical notions of public space and public discourse within it. That such strategies have been adopted by commercial interests also shifts the paradigm further, and sets forth new conditions by which typical notions of public space and social action are challenged. I have chosen three cases through which to examine this process: the artists Krzysztof Wodiczko and Jenny Holzer, and the advertising campaign of the Benetton Group. My central questions around their work are as follows: what makes up the strategy of the artists and company when they put forward an impermanent critique in a public space? What "public" is being spoken to in a work like this, taking place as it does in the civic realm? Since the controversy surrounding many of the projects by Wodiczko, Holzer, and Benetton lies in the interplay between social values and spatial territory, this study also examines the wider community and institutional interests at work in the site. It traces the policies of institutions and municipalities and their role in granting or denying permission for the work, as well as the roles of stakeholders around the site in supporting or impeding it. The sites that I will discuss are Union Square Park and Tompkins Square Park, both in New York City, Times Square and 42nd Street, New York, and Bunker Hill and Monument Square in Charlestown, MA. Two defining features of these sites are that drastic changes to the built environment often took place not long after the artists enacted their projects in them, and that there is a existing conflict among stake holding groups which is often centered around it. This research seeks to determine what role the artist played in the changes to the site and the struggles over it.by C. Adair Smith.M.C.P

All Work or All Play? The Impact of Cultural and Clinical Activities on Perceived Cultural Sensitivity Development During an Occupational Therapy Service Learning Experience

International service learning experiences provide invaluable opportunities for occupational therapy practitioners and students to practice clinical skills while also being exposed to different cultures and experiences not available in their home country. Studies have shown that clinical activities during international service learning experiences increase students’ cultural awareness and sensitivity, however the effect of cultural activities on students’ development is not known. Over the span of two years, multiple groups of American occupational therapy students traveled to Morocco for a ten day service learning experience and served in a variety of clinical activities across the lifespan and population. Students also participated in cultural and tourist activities for increased exposure to the local culture. This study explored the development of cultural sensitivity through participation in both clinical and cultural activities during the international service learning experience through a quantitative survey (n=22) and qualitative interview (n=17). Participants indicated that both clinical and cultural activities played a role in their self-perceived development of cultural sensitivity on the quantitative survey. Themes identified within the qualitative interview revealed the impactful qualities of various activities, identified as “Authenticity,” “Communication Skills,” “Role of Religion,” and “Exposure to Morocco.” It appears that both kinds of activities play a role in development of cultural sensitivity, and regardless of the activity, authenticity and exposure to the culture along with opportunities to practice communication skills play the largest role in students perceiving a personal increase in cultural awareness and sensitivity while participating in international service learning experiences

A COMUNICAÇÃO, O OUTRO E O DEVIR

No presente texto, analisamos algumas implicações que a concepção de comunicação, a saber, da comunicação como relação, que se institui entre sujeitos que avaliam o valor para si do que se propõe em mensagem, refletem sobre as condutas (um valor de educação) e sobre os papéis dos sujeitos, que se encontram nela. O modelo de comunicação, que apresentamos, primeiro que tudo propõe um lugar para os sujeitos implicados num processo dotado de estratégias, por vezes, limitadas e, por outras, enganadoras, de sobrevivência e desenvolvimento de seus ‘eus’

Cross Validation of a Figure Skating Blade Instrumented to Measure Figure Skating Impact

Please refer to the pdf version of the abstract located adjacent to the title

Prevalence and trends in the childhood dual burden of malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries, 1990–2012

Abstract Objective To describe trends in country- and individual-level dual burden of malnutrition in children <5 years, and age-stratified (<2 years, ≥2 years) country-level trends, in thirty-six low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Design Using repeated cross-sectional nationally representative data, we calculated the prevalence of malnutrition (stunting, wasting, overweight) at each survey wave, annualized rates of prevalence change for each country over time, and trends before and after 2000, for all children <5 years and separately for those </≥2 years. We examined country- (ratio of stunting to overweight) and individual-level (coexistence of stunting and overweight) dual burden in children <5 years. Setting Demographic and Health Surveys from thirty-six LMIC between 1990 and 2012. Subjects Children <5 years. Results Overall malnutrition prevalence decreased in children <5 years, driven by stunting decreases. Stunting rates decreased in 78 % of countries, wasting rates decreased in 58 % of countries and overweight rates increased in 36 % of countries. Rates of change differed for children </≥2 years, with children <2 years experiencing decreases in stunting in fewer countries yet increases in overweight in more countries. Countries with nearly equal prevalences of stunting and overweight in children <5 years increased from 2000 to the final year. Within a country, 0·3–10·9 % of children <5 years were stunted and overweight, and 0·6–37·8 % of stunted children <5 years were overweight. Conclusions The dual burden exists in children <5 years on both country and individual levels, indicating a shift is needed in policies and programmes to address both sides of malnutrition. Children <2 years should be identified as a high-risk demographic