A 12 week pre-season fitnes training programme for senior male high school rugby players : the effect of supervision on anthropometric, physiological and physical performance variables

The study comprises of two sections; i) a survey to determine the attitude towards fitness training for rugby and the current fitness training habits of elite high school rugby players in their penultimate year at school, ii) a training study on a sample of the same population group, to measure the effect of a 12 week fitness training programme, based on scientific principles, on anthropometric, physiological and performance variables. The training study also measured the efficacy of training supervision compared no supervision on these variables

Comparing The Microbial Diversity of Campus Cultivated Flowers Vs EEC Wildflowers At Longwood University

The purpose of this experiment is to see which type of bacteria are found on Longwood University\u27s plant life. Identities of three of the flowers were found using genomics. It was found that there was a greater quantity of bacteria colonies on the wildflowers behind the EEC building however, there was greater diversity of bacterial colonies on the Rotunda flowers

Breeding Season Survival of Female Lesser Scaup in the Northern Boreal Forest

One hypothesis advanced to explain the decline in lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) populations during the past 20 years is that adult female survival has decreased. However, no survival probability estimates exist for the boreal forest, the region where most scaup breed. We captured and radio-marked female lesser scaup (n = 42) near Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, just before the breeding season in 1999 and 2000. Constant weekly survival probability was estimated using a Cormack-Jolly- Seber model (0.96). We extrapolate this rate to estimate survival probability for the nesting season (0.80, SE = 0.09), the period when females are at greatest risk of predation. Recent estimates of annual mortality (42%) suggest that about 50% of annual female mortality occurs during the breeding season, a result similar to recent conclusions from studies of prairie-nesting lesser scaup. Further, our survival estimate provides information required to produce preliminary models of population dynamics for boreal lesser scaup, a step that could greatly improve our understanding of decline in this species.Une hypothèse qui a été avancée pour expliquer le déclin des populations du petit fuligule (Aythya affinis) au cours des 20 dernières années est que la survie de la femelle adulte a baissé. Il n’existe cependant aucune estimation de la probabilité de survie pour la forêt boréale, région où se reproduisent la plupart des fuligules. Juste avant la saison de reproduction en 1999 et 2000, on a capturé, près de Yellowknife dans les Territoires du Nord-Ouest, des fuligules femelles (n = 42) qu’on a équipées de radio-émetteurs. À l’aide du modèle de Cormack-Jolly-Seber, on a estimé la probabilité de survie hebdomadaire (0,96) sur une base constante. On a extrapolé ce taux pour estimer la probabilité de survie pour la saison de reproduction (0,80, erreur-type = 0,09), période qui représente pour les femelles le plus grand risque de prédation. De récentes estimations de la mortalité annuelle (42 %) suggèrent qu’environ 50 % de cette dernière chez la population femelle se produit durant la saison de reproduction, ce qu’on retrouve aussi dans les résultats d’études récentes sur le fuligule nichant dans la prairie. De plus, notre estimation de la survie offre des renseignements qui sont nécessaires à l’élaboration de modèles préliminaires de la dynamique des populations chez le fuligule boréal, une étape qui permettrait d’améliorer considérablement notre compréhension du déclin de l’espèce

Consumers Perspectives on Using Biometric Technology With Mobile Banking

The need for applying biometric technology in mobile banking is increasing due to emerging security issues, and many banks’ chief executive officers have integrated biometric solutions into their mobile application protocols to address these evolving security risks. This quantitative study was performed to evaluate how the opinions and beliefs of banking customers in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States might influence their adoption of mobile banking applications that included biometric technology. The research question was designed to explore how performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), facilitating conditions (FC), perceived credibility (PC), and task-technology fit (TTF) affected customer adoption of biometric technology with mobile banking. The conceptual framework extended the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology by including PC and TTF. The responses to a web-based questionnaire that was distributed to 228 mobile banking customers were analyzed using SPSS AMOS (Version 23) to create structural equation models, a multiple linear regression model, and an analysis of variance (ANOVA) model. The results showed that PE, EE, TTF, and FC were the significant factors affecting customer acceptance of biometric technology with mobile banking. SI and PC were nonsignificant factors and had low positive correlations. The results of this study suggest that biometric technology can mitigate the risks associated with security attacks by identifying the customer during the bank transaction. The results also support positive social change by demonstrating how biometric technology can secure banks from fraud, prevent crime, and improve liveness detection

The Impact of the ACT Automated Admissions System as Perceived by the High School Counselors in Utah

The ACT automated admissions system was adopted by t he Colleges and Universities in the Utah system of higher education in 1974. The automated admission system was conceived at a time when College enrollment al l over the United States was decreasing, and thus was viewed by its proponents as a positive step in alleviating some of the articulation problems between post secondary institutions, high school counselors and prospective students. Educators who developed the program felt that it would be an advantage to prospective students by providing an admissions decision shortly after the ACT was taken. Automated admissions appears to be an advantage to high school counselors because i t eliminates the need for a high school transcript in the admissions process, and because it reduces the amount of time the counselor is involved in the mechanics of the admissions process. This study represents an effort to determine the impact of the Automated Admissions system on the high school counselor and on prospective college students. The results of this study indicate that a significant number of Utah high school counselors favor the Automated Admissions system as opposed to traditional admissions systems formerly in use, because of the reduction in clerical work required of the counselor

Recruitment and retention of faculty of color in Oklahoma

Scope and Method of Study: This study focuses on the recruitment and retention of faculty of color in Oklahoma. Although the study is written in its formal context, an additional documentary film component mirrors the written dissertation. Twenty-four professors and administrators of color discuss some of the difficulties associated with being in the minority at predominately white higher education institutions. The general focus is to improve the recruitment and retention process of higher education institutions seeking to diversify their faculties and staffs.Findings and Conclusions: Faculty and administrators of color address the need for higher education institutions to modify their faculties and staffs to reflect the rising numbers of students of color entering colleges and universities in the state. These members of the academy offer advice to people of color seeking employment. They also make suggestions to policymakers regarding the need to hold academy officials accountable for the implementation of practices associated with increasing the diversity of its employees

Social relations in a Japanese company.

This thesis is an account of social relations in a medium sized, but rapidly growing Japanese corrugated paperboard manufacturer. The main determinants of these relations are, it is suggested, the isolation of the directors and employees of the company from people in other companies and from local communities; the state of the labour market, and its effect on the prospects of those within the company of finding equally good Jobs in other firms; and the nature of the organization of the company. The fact of the company's isolation is established by considering the relations of those within the company with other parts of Japanese society. It is suggested that a corollary of this isolation is the development of a strong sense of community within the company. The peculiarities of the Japanese labour market are explained and its consequences for recruitment and resignation from the company are considered. It is shown that for reasons which might be described as cultural the company recruits new workers in an extremely uneconomic manner. It is proposed that, partly as a result of this, there are two categories of workers within the company: those who can leave it without difficulty and those who can not. Differences of opinion and behaviour between the members of these two categories are described. The distinctive feature of company organization is shown to be an all-embracing system of grades and ranks, up which company members pass semi-automatically as they grow older - this in spite of the widespread acceptance of an ideal of meritocracy among employees. It is shown how relations between labour and management, among others, are affected by this form of organization. It is suggested that future changes in social relations in Japanese industry will be caused by increasingly severe labour shortage, and also perhaps, by changes in public attitudes to industry

Preparing the New Law Graduate to Practice Law: A View from the Trenches

Most legal educators reject the premise that the primary mission of the law school is to train law students to practice law. Rather, most law professors claim that their primary function is to teach students to think like lawyers. To many commentators, however, the academic community\u27s antipractice attitude has spawned an unhealthy dichotomy between theory and practice, a division within the academic community, and a chasm between law schools and the practicing bar. Moreover, this dissonance or gap between law school and practice significantly contributes to the fact that most law graduates are substantially unprepared to function as lawyers when they enter the profession. The 1992 MacCrate Report reflects a serious effort by some concerned members of the legal community to grapple with the problems of the legal profession and to narrow the gap between law schools and the profession. The article begins by briefly exploring the reality of this perceived gap between law school and practice. Next, the article describes our study of the DPA\u27s New Attorney Training Program and discusses what we have learned from listening to and observing these new graduates struggle to gain competency. The article also compares the preparedness of new graduates in the Kentucky public defender program with that of new graduates who participated in a live-client clinic at the University of Wisconsin Law School or the University of Oklahoma College of Law. In addition, the article focuses on the extent to which the practical skills and fundamental values identified in the MacCrate Report can be readily acquired in a training program such as that offered by the DPA or in a law school clinical program. Based upon the DPA study and our professional experiences, the article concludes that law students and new graduates, if provided a quality, intensive, educational experience, can achieve minimal competence in a reasonable time frame. Finally, the Article examines Barnhizer\u27s proposed changes to legal education and his suggested new institutional approaches. The DPA study and professional experiences convince us that Barnhizer\u27s recommendations are sound and do, in fact, merit serious consideration

Performance Characteristics of Putative Tests for Subclinical Chorioamnionitis

Objective: To evaluate amniotic fluid glucose, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-12 for diagnosing subclinical chorioamnionitis in women with preterm labor. Methods: Forty-four women in preterm labor at 22–35 weeks gestation with suspected subclinical chorioamnionitis underwentamniocentesis.Amniotic fluid analysis included Gram stain, culture, and determination of glucose, MMP-9, IL-6, and IL-12 concentrations. Median values of these analytes were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were calculated for tests using a positive amniotic fluid culture or delivery within 24 hours as the key outcome variables Results: Amniotic fluid concentrations of glucose, MMP-9, and IL-6 correlated closely with positive culture or delivery within 24 hours. IL-12 concentrations did not correlate with either a positive culture or delivery within 24 hours. Conclusions: Amniotic fluid glucose, MMP-9, and IL-6 reliably predict microbial invasion of the amniotic cavity or imminent delivery. IL-12 values did not correlate with amniotic fluid culture results or imminent delivery