Defining extreme sport: conceptions and misconceptions

One feature in how sport is defined is the distinction between extreme and non-extreme. BASE jumping is an example of an ‘extreme sport’ because it involves a high degree of ‘risk’, whilst swimming is classified as ‘non-extreme’ because the risks are minimal. This broad definition falls short of identifying the extent of risk and ignores the psychological, social-demographic and life style variables associated with engagement in each sport

Rugby as a rehabilitation program in a United Kingdom male young offenders' institution: key findings and implications from mixed methods research

There is a growing body of research on the effectiveness of rehabilitation programmes in a Young Offenders’ Institution (YOI). The aim of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of Rugby training as a rehabilitation intervention in a YOI in the UK. Young adult males (n = 46) currently serving sentences at the YOI were split into two groups, intervention (n = 25, mean age = 19.64, SD = 0.81) and no intervention (n = 21, mean age = 19.76, SD = 0.89). Participants completed the Criminal Attitudes and Associates (MCAA) instrument (Mills et al., 2002) pre and post intervals at three different time cycles across an 8 week period. Additionally, qualitative interviews (one to one and focus groups) were carried out with the intervention and no intervention groups during the same cycles of the study. The results of questionnaire analysis showed no significant difference in MCAA measures taken before and after Rugby intervention. Interestingly, the intervention group showed more pro-criminal attitudes on their responses compared to the no intervention group. Finally, analysis of the 3 cycles of data collected showed that the time of the year the questionnaire was completed has a significant impact on the responses given. In contrast, the qualitative interviews showed a very positive change of attitude towards rehabilitation from the intervention group after Rugby training. The implications of the results in relation to studies aimed at evaluation of the intervention programmes in YOI are discussed

Personality differences amongst drag racers and archers: implications for sport injury rehabilitation

Personality trait of an athlete is a significant factor in sports injury rehabilitation. The aim of the present study is to investigate whether there are differences in personality traits between male and female, professional and amateur athletes from sports representing two ends of extreme to traditional namely; drag racing and archery. Overall 189 male and female, professional and amateur drag racers (n=144) and archers (n=45) took part in this study. Participants completed the personality traits of extroversion and neuroticism as measured by Eysenck’s classic Personality Inventory dimensions and thrill and adventure seeking (TAS), experience seeking (ES), disinhibition (DIS), boredom susceptibility (BS), and sensation seeking (SS) as measured by Zuckerman’s Sensation Seeking Scale. The results showed that professionals scored significantly lower on neuroticism compared to amateurs. Drag racers scored significantly higher on TAS, DIS, and SS compared to archers and there were gender differences amongst archers on TAS and SS with males scoring higher than females. Such differences in personality factors and the readiness to take risks, lack of caution, and adventurous spirit can influence the risk of injury in athletes and indeed may influence the outcome of rehabilitation. Practitioners would need to recognise difference in personality traits associated with the type of sport and the choice of interventions strategies

Effects of physical activity on debilitating behaviours in 13- to 20-year-old males with severe autism spectrum disorder

The presented study investigated the extent to which engaging in a therapeutic sporting programme in males with severe Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) improves the debilitating behaviours commonly associated with ASD. Furthermore, the views of parents of the autistic participants were assessed concerning the effectiveness of the programme. Participants were eight 13-20 year old males born in the UK from a school and sports college for pupils with severe learning difficulties. The selection was using volunteer sampling from the “Monday Club” initiative, run by Saracens Sports Foundation in partnership with a local School and specialist Sports College. The Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS-3) was administered to identify and measure the severity of ASD behaviours at four time periods namely: at programme entry as the baseline (T1), a second time after 8 weeks (T2), a third time after sixteen weeks (T3) and a fourth time post programme (T4). The results showed that for the more severe cases of ASD (Autism Index >101) there was no positive change in subscale performance from Time1 to Time2. For milder cases (Autism Index 71-100) there were subtle non-significant improvements on the subscale scores from Time1 to Time2. Of the 6 subscales at Time2, Emotional Responses (ER), Cognitive Style (CS) and Maladaptive Speech (MS) approached significance at the p = 0.05 level. At Time3 and Time4, there was also no statistically significant improvement in ASD behaviours compared to the baseline for either condition. Finally parents’ were “very satisfied” with their child’s participation in the physical activity programme

A cross-continental study on children's drawings of football players: implications for understanding key issues and controversies in human figure drawings

Professionals examine various aspects of girls’ and boys’ drawings as a way of understanding their intelligence, personality and emotional state. However, the extent to which such measures could be universally generalised or attributed to a specific cultural norm is still a debatable issue. In the present study five key features of children’s drawings namely: the size (height) of the drawings, profile or full face, figure in action or static, shaded or non-shaded and the nature of additional details were examined from a cross-cultural perspective, and by providing a topic (football) for which children’s drawing of a human figure could provide opportunities for the latter indices to manifest and flourish. Children from three countries; England, Iran and Brazil, representing three continents took part in this study. The participants were asked to draw a football player from their own country and from the other participating countries. The results showed that Brazilian children differ from Iranian and English children by drawing significantly smaller figures and putting more football action in the drawings. Shading of the figure drawn was more prevalent amongst English children. Such findings have implications for the interpretation of key aspects of children's drawings in educational, clinical and therapeutic settings and from a universal vs. culturally-specific viewpoint

The perception of same gender coaches by Iranian skaters and its influence on sport achievement motivation and commitment

Aim: To examine the relationship between the perception of same gender coaches by male and female Iranian skaters and their sport achievement motivation and commitment. Participants: Fifty two female and forty two male skaters, age range 13 to 18 years, from the province of Isfahan in Iran. Materials: The following 3 questionnaires, tested for reliability and validity for the Iranian population and adapted for Farsi, were used: i) Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand and Briere (2001) Interpersonal Behaviour Scale to measure social support of trainers, ii) Gill and Deeter (1988) Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) to measure achievement motivation, and iii) Scanlan, Simons, Carpenter, Schmidt and Keeler (1993) Sport Commitment Model to measure sport commitment. Procedure: The questionnaires were administered to participants in person by the first author after training sessions in sport stadiums. Results: There was a significant positive correlation between perceived coaches' social support and sport achievement motivation and commitment for both male and female participants. However, on all of the above measures females scored significantly more positive ratings than their male counterparts. Results of regression analyses conducted separately for males and females showed that relatedness support is the strongest predictor for sport achievement motivation and commitment for males, whereas autonomy support was the strongest predictor for sport commitment amongst females. Implications: These findings are of particular interest in understanding the impact of perceived coaching support for young male and female athletes, especially if coached exclusively by the same gender. Keywords: Same gender, coaches social support, achievement motivation, sport commitment, skating

Application of remote sensing to state and regional problems

The methods and procedures used, accomplishments, current status, and future plans are discussed for each of the following applications of LANDSAT in Mississippi: (1) land use planning in Lowndes County; (2) strip mine inventory and reclamation; (3) white-tailed deer habitat evaluation; (4) remote sensing data analysis support systems; (5) discrimination of unique forest habitats in potential lignite areas; (6) changes in gravel operations; and (7) determining freshwater wetlands for inventory and monitoring. The documentation of all existing software and the integration of the image analysis and data base software into a single package are now considered very high priority items

Contact line motion for partially wetting fluids

We study the flow close to an advancing contact line in the limit of small capillary number. To take into account wetting effects, both long and short-ranged contributions to the disjoining pressure are taken into account. In front of the contact line, there is a microscopic film corresponding to a minimum of the interaction potential. We compute the parameters of the contact line solution relevant to the matching to a macroscopic problem, for example a spreading droplet. The result closely resembles previous results obtained with a slip model

The S-Cycle performance matrix : supporting comprehensive sustainability performance evaluation of technical systems

The work reported in this paper consolidates and rationalises disparate evaluation methods in a novel, generic framework to support the selection of comprehensive material/energetic sustainability performance indicators (SPIs) for technical systems. The S-Cycle Performance Matrix (S-CPMatrix) is comprised of 6 generic sustainability goals, 11 SPI archetypes, and 23 corresponding metrics identified from a model of technical system sustainability (the S-Cycle). The matrix was evaluated by interpreting and classifying 324 indicators currently applied to evaluate technical system sustainability performance in the literature, with 94.1% found to be fully classifiable with respect to the matrix following several refinements. The remaining 5.9% suggested additional SPI archetypes and a goal that were not initially identified. The matrix is intended to support decision makers in meeting three criteria for comprehensiveness identified from the literature: (C1) inclusion of indicators measuring performance at all relevant scales; (C2) inclusion of efficiency and effectiveness indicators; and (C3) coverage of all system sustainability goals. It may be applied to different systems in conjunction with different evaluation methods, thereby contributing to more consistent guidance on the selection of comprehensive SPIs for technical systems. In addition to industrial evaluation and comparison with existing evaluation methods, four avenues for future research were identified: (i) use of the S-CPMatrix to support systems comparison/benchmarking; (ii) further investigation of unsupported metrics; (iii) the nature and measurement of contaminants; and (iv) the comprehensiveness of SPI sets currently used in sustainability performance evaluation of technical systems

THE THERMO-HYDRODYNAMICS OF A CONCENTRIC OHMIC HEATER FOR PROCESSING DAIRY FLUIDS

The thermo-hydraulic performance of a 300W concentric annular ohmic heater was investigated. To minimize possible electrochemical reactions and corrosion, a higher frequency was applied and factors of field strength and frequency were studied. 2D computer simulation solving momentum, thermal and electrical energy was performed using the FlexPDE software. A good agreement between experimental and analytical analysis of static heating was obtained. There were significant differences between calculated and measured wall temperature near the entrance. The calculated outlet temperature was however in reasonable agreement with the experiment value