Football's Ability to Combat Social Exclusion

Over the past few years there has been a clear shift in governmental focus on the role of sport within British society. The old maxim of ‘sport for sport’s sake’ has been largely superseded by an approach emphasising the role of sport in helping to create a more inclusive social environment (Department for Culture, Media and Sport / Strategy Unit, 2002; Local Government Association, 2001). Sporting excellence is no longer enough on its own, rather sport is seen as a tool to be used in addressing the underlying factors which lead to the exclusion of certain individuals and communities. It is our contention that this political positioning and the related search for funding leads to over ambitious claims for what can be achieved. As the sport with the highest media and public following, football (soccer) is increasingly being challenged regarding its role in addressing this social agenda. In this paper we review some of the available evidence relating to the contribution of football and sport more generally. To do this we shall first examine how ‘social inclusion’ is interpreted; then, adopting a more questioning view of both football and sport, summarise what their contribution to social inclusion might realistically be. We contend that this has to mean considering a more differentiated interpretation of both sport and social inclusion

The determinants of the wealth effects of banks' expanded securities powers

After several unsuccessful attempts by Congress to repeal Glass-Steagall restrictions on banks, the Federal Reserve more than doubled the revenue that commercial banking organizations' securities subsidiaries may earn from certain securities activities. The wealth effects associated with this event for a sample of publicly traded banking organizations are examined. We find evidence that indicates the revenue limit resulted in a less-than-optimal mix of activities for securities subsidiaries. However, subsequent merger activity that could have been generated by the revenue increase was not viewed favorably by investors.Securities

Consolidation, technology, and the changing structure of banks' small business lending

The U.S. banking industry continues to consolidate, with large, complex banking organizations becoming more important. Traditionally, these institutions have not emphasized small business lending. On the other hand, technological advances, particularly credit scoring models, make it easier for banks to extend small business credit. To see what effects these influences might have generated on small business lending, David Ely and Kenneth Robinson explore the small business lending patterns at U.S. banks from 1994 through 1999. They find that larger banks are increasing their market share, most noticeably in the smallest segment of the small business loan market. The authors also present evidence that the size of the average small business loan has declined, especially at larger organizations, and that the gap in lending focus on the smallest small business loans has narrowed between small and large banks. These trends are consistent with increasing use of credit scoring models.Credit ; Credit scoring systems

Oblique-incidence secondary emission from charged dielectrics

Secondary electron emission coefficients were measured on FEP-Teflon for normal and oblique incidence in the presence of a normal electric field. Such measurements require knowledge of the electrostatic environment surrounding the specimen, and they require calculation of particle trajectories such that particle impact parameters can be known. A simulation using a conformal mapping, a Green's integral, and a trajectory generator provides the necessary mathematical support for the measurements, which were made with normal fields of 1.5 and 2.7 kV/mm. When incidence is normal and energy exceeds the critical energy, the coefficient is given by (V sub 0/V) to the .58 power, and for oblique incidence this expression may be divided by the cosine of the angle. The parameter V sub 0 is a function of normal field

Polynomial Cointegration among Stationary Processes with Long Memory

n this paper we consider polynomial cointegrating relationships among stationary processes with long range dependence. We express the regression functions in terms of Hermite polynomials and we consider a form of spectral regression around frequency zero. For these estimates, we establish consistency by means of a more general result on continuously averaged estimates of the spectral density matrix at frequency zeroComment: 25 pages, 7 figures. Submitted in August 200

An Appraisal of FOPIM Fast-converging Perturbation Method

Appraisal of first order perturbation iteration fast converging metho

Improved determination of Q-factor and resonant frequency by a quadratic curve-fitting method

The Q-factor and peak frequency of resonant phenomena give useful information about the propagation and storage of energy in an electronic system and therefore its electromagnetic compatibility performance. However, the calculation of Q by linear interpolation of a discrete frequency response to obtain the half-power bandwidth can give inaccurate results, particularly if the data are noisy or the frequency resolution is low. We describe a more accurate method that makes use of the Lorentzian shape of the resonant peaks and involves fitting a second-order polynomial to the reciprocal power plotted against angular frequency. We demonstrate that this new method requires less than one quarter the number of frequency points as the linear method to give comparable accuracy in Q. The new method also gives comparable accuracy for signal-to-noise ratios that are approximately 8 dB greater. It is also more accurate for determination of peak frequency. Examples are given both from measured frequency responses and from simulated data obtained by the transmission line matrix method

Large-scale educational telecommunications systems for the US: An analysis of educational needs and technological opportunities

The needs to be served, the subsectors in which the system might be used, the technology employed, and the prospects for future utilization of an educational telecommunications delivery system are described and analyzed. Educational subsectors are analyzed with emphasis on the current status and trends within each subsector. Issues which affect future development, and prospects for future use of media, technology, and large-scale electronic delivery within each subsector are included. Information on technology utilization is presented. Educational telecommunications services are identified and grouped into categories: public television and radio, instructional television, computer aided instruction, computer resource sharing, and information resource sharing. Technology based services, their current utilization, and factors which affect future development are stressed. The role of communications satellites in providing these services is discussed. Efforts to analyze and estimate future utilization of large-scale educational telecommunications are summarized. Factors which affect future utilization are identified. Conclusions are presented

Thermomechanical characterization of Hastelloy-X under uniaxial cyclic loading

In most high-temperature engineering applications, components are subjected to complex combinations of thermal and mechanical loading during service. A number of viscoplastic constitutive models were proposed which potentially can provide mathematical descriptions of material response under such conditions. Implementation of these models into large finite element codes such as MARC has already resulted in much improved inelastic analysis capability for hot-section aircraft engine components. However, a number of questions remain regarding the validity of methods adopted in characterizing these constitutive models for particular high-temperature materials. One area of concern is that the majority of experimental data available for this purpose are determined under isothermal conditions. This is in contrast to service conditions which, as noted above, almost always involve some form of thermal cycling. The obvious question arises as to whether a constitutive model characterized using an isothermal data base can adequately predict material response under thermomechanical conditions. An experimental program was initiated within the HOST program to address this particular concern. The results of the most recent isothermal and thermomechanical experiments are described