Bowled out for a duck before picking up a bat: identifying women’s perceived barriers and lived experiences of cricket within the City of Lincoln

Gender inequality in sport has received significant attention from sports development initiatives and sociologists of sport. Gender inequality describes the structuring of aspects of society that favours one gender over another. Feminist academic literature is heavily focused around how the inequality is perpetuated in society (Hargreaves, J. (2000) Heroines of Sport: ‘The politics of difference and identity’. London: Routledge.). The prevalence of gender inequality is reflected in women’s participation levels in typically masculine sports such as cricket. Approximately 0.08% of the female population take part in cricket in the UK, which suggests there are inherent barriers to women’s participation (Sport England, 2011, Active People Survey 2011). This problem is something that has been highlighted as a substantial aim that the legacy of the 2012 London Olympics can help overcome (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympics games Ltd (2008) Diversity and Inclusion strategy). The present study builds on previous work to increase opportunities for women to participate in cricket (Hibberd et al 2011; ‘Not Just a Boys Game’: Programme evaluation of a multi-agency cricket intervention designed to reduce gender inequity in a city in the East of England.’Paper presented at the student BASES 2011 conference). The principal aim of this study is to investigate the perceived barriers that active women feel prevent or inhibit their participation in cricket. A case study approach will be adopted, focusing on six women’s community and University sports clubs in Lincoln, in conjunction with Lincolnshire Cricket board (LCB). Women will be recruited from an array of social backgrounds, with different abilities, ages and experiences of sport. A mixed method approach utilising both questionnaires and semi-structured group interviews will be employed (Bryman, A. (1988) Quantity and Quality in Social Research. London: Routledge). A theory driven approach to understanding women’s perceived barriers to participation in cricket will be adopted. The project will enable researchers to gain a better understanding of the reasons why women find access to certain sports easier than others. This information will allow researchers to make recommendations for widening participation in women’s cricket, with a view to increasing the viability of women’s participation in cricket locally

The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being: Estimates for Canada, 1999 and 2005

This report presents estimates of the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) for a representative sample of Canadian households in 1999 and 2005. The results indicate that there was only modest growth in the average Canadian household’s total command over economic resources in the six years between 1999 and 2005. Although inequality in economic well-being increased slightly over the 1999-2005 period, the LIMEW was more equally distributed across Canadian households than more common income measures (such as after-tax income) in both 1999 and 2005. The median household’s economic well-being was lower in Canada than in the United States in both years.LIMEW, well-being, income, earnings, wealth, public consumption, government expenditure, household production, inequality

"The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being: Estimates for Canada, 1999 and 2005"

This report presents estimates of the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being (LIMEW) for a representative sample of Canadian households in 1999 and 2005. The results indicate that there was only modest growth in the average Canadian household’s total command over economic resources in the six years between 1999 and 2005. Although inequality in economic well-being increased slightly over the 1999–2005 period, the LIMEW was more equally distributed across Canadian households than more common income measures (such as after-tax income) in both 1999 and 2005. The median household’s economic well-being was lower in Canada than in the United States in both years.Well-being, Inequality, Income, Wealth, Government Expenditure, Household Production, LIMEW, (Canada)

Deformations in Closed String Theory -- Canonical Formulation and Regularization

We study deformations of closed string theory by primary fields of conformal weight $(1,1)$, using conformal techniques on the complex plane. A canonical surface integral formalism for computing commutators in a non-holomorphic theory is constructed, and explicit formul\ae for deformations of operators are given. We identify the unique regularization of the arising divergences that respects conformal invariance, and consider the corresponding parallel transport. The associated connection is metric compatible and carries no curvature.Comment: Plain TeX, 16 pages. Some additions in the discussion of the curvatur

Estimation And Regulation Of Uterine Prostanoids During Ovine Pregnancy And Delivery

The objectives of the work described in this thesis were (1) to delineate major sites of prostanoid (PG) production in pregnant sheep by examining the concentrations of PG in intra-uterine tissues taken at different stages of pregnancy and correlating these with PG output from isolated cells prepared from these tissues and with PG concentrations in amniotic and allantoic fluids; (2) to correlate the effects of infusing ACTH to the fetal lamb and indomethacin to the mother on patterns of uterine activities and plasma steroid changes, with tissue steroid and PG concentrations and PG output in vitro; (3) to examine the effects of steroid and protein hormones on PG output in vitro; and (4) to examine the sequelae of fetal death, PG concentrations and uterine activity.;The principal findings were: (1) PG concentrations and output in vitro increased during the last third of pregnancy, and at this time highest PG concentrations were found in cotyledons and chorioallantois. (2) During ACTH-induced labour, concentrations of 6-oxo-PGF(,1(alpha)) were elevated in myometrium adjacent to the cervix, and PGF and PGE concentrations were higher at the tubal and cervical ends of the myometrium in all animals. Concentrations of PGE in endometrium and of PGF and 6-oxo-PGF(,1(alpha)) in cotyledons and chorioallantois were elevated during labour and were correlated with estrone concentrations in these tissues. Indomethacin, given to ACTH-treated animals reduced PG concentrations, the degree of cervical dilation and the frequency of uterine contractions. (3) The output of PGE in vitro from isolated caruncle cells prepared from ewes treated with estradiol-17(beta) in vivo was increased, and the output of all PG\u27s examined were decreased following in vitro ovine placental lactogen (OPL) treatment. (4) The concentrations of all PGs were elevated in myometrium in sheep bearing fetuses which had died 12-26 h previously. The proportions of animals showing uterine activity however, were elevated only in sheep bearing fetuses which had died 34-72 h previously.;The results of this study suggest an association between PG\u27s and uterine activity during labour and that estrogen and OPL may play a role in the regulation of uterine PG production

Synthesis of Knowledge from Woody Biomass Removal Case Studies

Interest in woody biomass from forests has increased because of rising fossil fuel costs, concerns about greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, and the threat of catastrophic wildfires. However, getting woody biomass from the forest to the consumer presents economic and logistical challenges. Woody biomass is the lowest-value material removed from the forest, usually logging slash, small-diameter trees, tops, limbs, or trees that can not be sold as timber. This report brings together 45 case studies of how biomass is removed from forests and used across the country to demonstrate the wide variety of successful strategies, funding sources, harvesting operations, utilization outlets, and silvicultural prescriptions. The case studies are available at http://biomass.forestguild.org. Seven main themes emerged from collecting and comparing the biomass removal case studies: objectives, collaboration, ecology, fire, economics, implementation, and regional differences. Biomass removal projects tend to combine multiple objectives such as ecological restoration, wildfire hazard reduction, forest-stand improvement, rural community stability, employment, and habitat improvement. Collaboration, with both the interested public and contractors, is a key element in successful projects. Stewardship contracting presents a flexible way to develop partnerships and invite constructive public involvement. The Ecological impacts of biomass removals, both positive and negative, need more research. States and non-governmental organizations are creating guidelines for biomass harvesting that may help to protect forests and alleviate concerns about the impact of removals. Fire is the main driver of many biomass projects. In many cases, the goal of biomass removals is to reduce forest fuels and wildfire hazard. Biomass removal provides substantial ecological benefits when it helps to re-establish natural fire regimes. The economics of biomass removal are challenging. The case studies demonstrate that biomass removal projects are rarely a source of income. However, some managers generated a profit by combining multiple forest products in the removal, taking advantage of fluctuations in the biomass market, and selling to established outlets. The implementation of biomass harvests benefit from mechanization as well as dividing the harvesting and handling of forest products among multiple contractors. New technologies were tested in some case studies, and others on the horizon offer the potential for further cost reductions. The case studies reveal regional differences and the importance of designing projects to fit the biophysical conditions and social context of each site. Taken together, these case studies show that all aspects of woody biomass removals, from markets to mechanization, are evolving. This report identifies the building blocks for successful biomass projects—including public involvement, partnerships with contractors, and judicious mechanization of harvest operations—that are present in the management of many forests across the country

Registration and Recognition in 3D

The simplest Computer Vision algorithm can tell you what color it sees when you point it at an object, but asking that computer what it is looking at is a much harder problem. Camera and LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) sensors generally provide streams pixel of values and sophisticated algorithms must be engineered to recognize objects or the environment. There has been significant effort expended by the computer vision community on recognizing objects in color images; however, LiDAR sensors, which sense depth values for pixels instead of color, have been studied less. Recently we have seen a renewed interest in depth data with the democratization provided by consumer depth cameras. Detecting objects in depth data is more challenging in some ways because of the lack of texture and increased complexity of processing unordered point sets. We present three systems that contribute to solving the object recognition problem from the LiDAR perspective. They are: calibration, registration, and object recognition systems. We propose a novel calibration system that works with both line and raster based LiDAR sensors, and calibrates them with respect to image cameras. Our system can be extended to calibrate LiDAR sensors that do not give intensity information. We demonstrate a novel system that produces registrations between different LiDAR scans by transforming the input point cloud into a Constellation Extended Gaussian Image (CEGI) and then uses this CEGI to estimate the rotational alignment of the scans independently. Finally we present a method for object recognition which uses local (Spin Images) and global (CEGI) information to recognize cars in a large urban dataset. We present real world results from these three systems. Compelling experiments show that object recognition systems can gain much information using only 3D geometry. There are many object recognition and navigation algorithms that work on images; the work we propose in this thesis is more complimentary to those image based methods than competitive. This is an important step along the way to more intelligent robots

Cepheid Masses: FUSE Observations of S Mus

S Mus is the Cepheid with the hottest known companion. The large ultraviolet flux means that it is the only Cepheid companion for which the velocity amplitude could be measured with the echelle mode of the HST GHRS. Unfortunately, the high temperature is difficult to constrain at wavelengths longer than 1200 \AA because of the degeneracy between temperature and reddening. We have obtained a FUSE spectrum in order to improve the determination of the temperature of the companion. Two regions which are temperature sensitive near 16,000 K but relatively unaffected by H$_2$ absorption (940 \AA, and the Ly $\beta$ wings) have been identified. By comparing FUSE spectra of S Mus B with spectra of standard stars, we have determined a temperature of 17,000 $\pm$ 500 K. The resultant Cepheid mass is 6.0 $\pm$ 0.4 M$_\odot$. This mass is consistent with main sequence evolutionary tracks with a moderate amount of convective overshoot.Comment: accepted to Ap