Boys\u27 participation in junior secondary school physical education and sport

According to social lore, boys are meant to be good at Physical Education and sport. There is, however, increasing evidence to the contrary and it is now essential to consider why boys drop out of Physical Education and sport. There has been a good deal of research and subsequent literature detailing the plight of girls\u27 involvement in Physical Education and sport. However, a dearth of literature and research exists where boys Physical Education and sport are concerned. Out of research comes practical implementation strategies that can be adopted by teachers to create a more favourable learning environment. Extensive research on boys\u27 Physical Education and sport has been carried out in a number of schools in the Perth metropolitan region as well Western Australian country schools. The schools involved have been randomly selected from a multitude of regions to create a broad cross section of data. They include both government and non-government schools. The participants involve boys in Years 8, 9, and 10. Approximately 40 boys who do not enjoy Physical Education and sport, as identified by their Physical Education teachers, took part in group interviews . From these interviews a questionnaire was developed and completed by over 600 boys in 14 different schools..

Bargaining and reputation: an experiment on bargaining in the presence of behavioural types

We conduct a series of laboratory experiments to understand what role commitment and reputation play in bargaining. The experiments implement the Abreu and Gul (2000) bargaining model that demonstrates how introducing behavioral types, which are obstinate in their demands, creates incentives for all players to build reputations for being hard bargainers. The data are qualitatively consistent with the theory, as subjects mimic induced types. Furthermore, we find evidence for the presence of complementary types, whose initial demands acquiesce to induced behavioural demands. However, there are quantitative deviations from the theory: subjects make aggressive demands too often and participate in longer conflicts before reaching agreements. Overall, the results suggest that the Abreu and Gul (2000) model can be used to gain insights to bargaining behavior, particularly in environments where the process underlying obstinate play is well established

Preliminary safety assessment of a membrane-bound delta 9 desaturase candidate protein for transgenic oilseed crops

AbstractA gene encoding delta 9 desaturase (D9DS), an integral membrane protein, is being considered for incorporation into oilseed crops to reduce saturated fatty acids and thus improve human nutritional value. Typically, a safety assessment for transgenic crops involves purifying heterologously produced transgenic proteins in an active form for use in safety studies. Membrane-bound proteins have been very difficult to isolate in an active form due to their inherent physicochemical properties. Described here are methods used to derive enriched preparations of the active D9DS protein for use in early stage safety studies. Results of these studies, in combination with bioinformatic results and knowledge of the mode of action of the protein, along with a history of safe consumption of related proteins, provides a weight of evidence supporting the safety of the D9DS protein in food and feed

Strategy revision opportunities and collusion

This paper studies whether and how strategy revision opportunities affect levels of collusion in indefinitely repeated two-player games. Consistent with standard theory, we find that such opportunities do not affect strategy choices, or collusion levels, if the game is of strategic substitutes. In games of strategic complements, by contrast, revision opportunities lead to more collusion. We discuss alternative explanations for this result

Small molecule binding sites on the Ras:SOS complex can be exploited for inhibition of Ras activation.

Constitutively active mutant KRas displays a reduced rate of GTP hydrolysis via both intrinsic and GTPase-activating protein-catalyzed mechanisms, resulting in the perpetual activation of Ras pathways. We describe a fragment screening campaign using X-ray crystallography that led to the discovery of three fragment binding sites on the Ras:SOS complex. The identification of tool compounds binding at each of these sites allowed exploration of two new approaches to Ras pathway inhibition by stabilizing or covalently modifying the Ras:SOS complex to prevent the reloading of Ras with GTP. Initially, we identified ligands that bound reversibly to the Ras:SOS complex in two distinct sites, but these compounds were not sufficiently potent inhibitors to validate our stabilization hypothesis. We conclude by demonstrating that covalent modification of Cys118 on Ras leads to a novel mechanism of inhibition of the SOS-mediated interaction between Ras and Raf and is effective at inhibiting the exchange of labeled GDP in both mutant (G12C and G12V) and wild type Ras

Strong vacuum squeezing from bichromatically driven Kerrlike cavities: from optomechanics to superconducting circuits

Squeezed light, displaying less fluctuation than vacuum in some observable, is key in the flourishing field of quantum technologies. Optical or microwave cavities containing a Kerr nonlinearity are known to potentially yield large levels of squeezing, which have been recently observed in optomechanics and nonlinear superconducting circuit platforms. Such Kerr-cavity squeezing however suffers from two fundamental drawbacks. First, optimal squeezing requires working close to turning points of a bistable cycle, which are highly unstable against noise thus rendering optimal squeezing inaccessible. Second, the light field has a macroscopic coherent component corresponding to the pump, making it less versatile than the so-called squeezed vacuum, characterised by a null mean field. Here we prove analytically and numerically that the bichromatic pumping of optomechanical and superconducting circuit cavities removes both limitations. This finding should boost the development of a new generation of robust vacuum squeezers in the microwave and optical domains with current technology

An assessment of the malaria-related knowledge and practices of Tanzania's drug retailers: exploring the impact of drug store accreditation.

BACKGROUND: Since 2003 Tanzania has upgraded its approximately 7000 drug stores to Accredited Drug Dispensing Outlets (ADDOs), involving dispenser training, introduction of record keeping and enhanced regulation. Prior to accreditation, drug stores could officially stock over-the-counter medicines only, though many stocked prescription-only antimalarials. ADDOs are permitted to stock 49 prescription-only medicines, including artemisinin combination therapies and one form of quinine injectable. Oral artemisinin monotherapies and other injectables were not permitted at any time. By late 2011 conversion was complete in 14 of 21 regions. We explored variation in malaria-related knowledge and practices of drug retailers in ADDO and non-ADDO regions. METHODS: Data were collected as part of the Independent Evaluation of the Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria (AMFm), involving a nationally representative survey of antimalarial retailers in October-December 2011. We randomly selected 49 wards and interviewed all drug stores stocking antimalarials. We compare ADDO and non-ADDO regions, excluding the largest city, Dar es Salaam, due to the unique characteristics of its market. RESULTS: Interviews were conducted in 133 drug stores in ADDO regions and 119 in non-ADDO regions. Staff qualifications were very similar in both areas. There was no significant difference in the availability of the first line antimalarial (68.9% in ADDO regions and 65.2% in non-ADDO regions); both areas had over 98% availability of non-artemisinin therapies and below 3.0% of artemisinin monotherapies. Staff in ADDO regions had better knowledge of the first line antimalarial than non-ADDO regions (99.5% and 91.5%, p = 0.001). There was weak evidence of a lower price and higher market share of the first line antimalarial in ADDO regions. Drug stores in ADDO regions were more likely to stock ADDO-certified injectables than those in non-ADDO regions (23.0% and 3.9%, p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: ADDO conversion is frequently cited as a model for improving retail sector drug provision. Drug stores in ADDO regions performed better on some indicators, possibly indicating some small benefits from ADDO conversion, but also weaknesses in ADDO regulation and high staff turnover. More evidence is needed on the value-added and value for money of the ADDO roll out to inform retail policy in Tanzania and elsewhere

How HIV/AIDS scale-up has impacted on non- HIV priority services in Zambia

Background: Much of the debate as to whether or not the scaling up of HIV service delivery in Africa benefits non-HIV priority services has focused on the use of nationally aggregated data. This paper analyses and presents routine health facility record data to show trend correlations across priority services. Methods: Review of district office and health facility client records for 39 health facilities in three districts of Zambia, covering four consecutive years (2004-07). Intra-facility analyses were conducted, service and coverage trends assessed and rank correlations between services measured to compare service trends within facilities. Results: VCT, ART and PMTCT client numbers and coverage levels increased rapidly. There were some strong positive correlations in trends within facilities between reproductive health services (family planning and antenatal care) and ART and PMTCT, with Spearman rank correlations ranging from 0.33 to 0.83. Childhood immunisation coverage also increased. Stock-outs of important drugs for non-HIV priority services were significantly more frequent than were stock-outs of antiretroviral drugs. Conclusions: The analysis shows scale-up in reproductive health service numbers in the same facilities where HIV services were scaling up. While district childhood immunisations increased overall, this did not necessarily occur in facility catchment areas where HIV service scale-up occurred. The paper demonstrates an approach for comparing correlation trends across different services, using routine health facility information. Larger samples and explanatory studies are needed to understand the client, facility and health systems factors that contribute to positive and negative synergies between priority services