Safeguarding, surveillance and control: school policy and practice responses to the Prevent Duty and the "War on Terror" in the UK

In this chapter we provide a critical analysis of counter-terrorism strategies (Prevent) in UK schools. We provide a critique of some key, and often controversial, aspects of the Prevent policy, from its introduction in schools, through to its implementation and outcomes. Research is limited, particularly in relation to students’ experiences of the strategy, but we review the existing evidence to provide some insights, as far as possible, into how Prevent has been received by teachers and students, its impact on the working practices of teachers, and the experiences of students and local communities subject to Prevent policy and practice. In so doing we raise questions about the implications of the Prevent strategy, in particular the heightened measures of security and surveillance, imposed upon teachers, students, and communities and point towards possibilities for future policy and practice

The steady state load of five firefighting tasks

Purpose. Physiologic demands of five common tasks in firefighting have been examined. Methods. Eight male volunteers, being dressed up as smoke divers (+21 kg extra load), carried out the following tasks at constant pace for 5 min: Walking at 1.4 m·s–1, walking (all walks at the same speed) while carrying a 10 kg ladder, walking carrying two hose packs of 16 kg together, walking carrying a 32 kg spreader tool, finally climbing up and down a ladder at preset pace. A 5 min break separated each exercise. Heart rate, O2-uptake and ventilation were measured continuously, and blood lactate con-centration was recorded after each task. Results. The end-exercise heart rate rose from 108 to 180 bpm from first to last task, blood lactate concentration rose from 1 to 7 mmol·L–1, O2-uptake rose from 19 to 48 ml·kg–1·min–1, and ventilation rose from 38 to 124 L·min–1. Discussion. Walking was an easy task even when dressed up as a smoke diver. Adding loads increased demands; ladder climbing taxed >90% of the subjects’ aerobic power. Conclusions. The physiologic demands varied considera-bly between different tasks.acceptedVersio

Design and analysis of beam steering multicore fiber optical switches

The design and performance characteristics of a beam steering optical switch for multicore fibers (MCFs) are reported. Port count, core count, transmission crosstalk or a combination thereof can be optimized for the required application. Decreasing port separation or increasing the maximum steering angle both increase port count, whilst a higher core count or larger mode field diameter increase port capacity or port count respectively at the expense of greater intercore crosstalk. Potential losses from system misalignments and fiber fabrication variations in the core pitch are also estimated. A 50 port switch is possible for a 25 μm core pitch 7 core hexagonal trench assisted MCF (TA-MCF) with a total mean statistical crosstalk on the central core of -25 dB after 1 km, assuming a operational wavelength of 1550 nm and maximum collimator actuator angle of 10 degrees. In contrast, a high capacity 25 μm core pitch 61 core hexagonal TA-MCF can still offer up to a 5 port switch for the same level of crosstalk. For longer link distances, -25 dB crosstalk after 100 km (metro network) is achievable for a 50 port switch using a 35 μm core pitch 7 core TA-MCF. Similar levels of crosstalk can be accomplished at 1000 km (core network) for a 41 port switch using a 35 μm core pitch 7 core TA-MCF