Questioning policy, youth participation and lifestyle sports

Young people have been identified as a key target group for whom participation in sport and physical activity could have important benefits to health and wellbeing and consequently have been the focus of several government policies to increase participation in the UK. Lifestyle sports represent one such strategy for encouraging and sustaining new engagements in sport and physical activity in youth groups, however, there is at present a lack of understanding of the use of these activities within policy contexts. This paper presents findings from a government initiative which sought to increase participation in sport for young people through provision of facilities for mountain biking in a forest in south-east England. Findings from qualitative research with 40 young people who participated in mountain biking at the case study location highlight the importance of non-traditional sports as a means to experience the natural environments through forms of consumption which are healthy, active and appeal to their identities. In addition, however, the paper raises questions over the accessibility of schemes for some individuals and social groups, and the ability to incorporate sports which are inherently participant-led into state-managed schemes. Lifestyle sports such as mountain biking involve distinct forms of participation which present a challenge for policy-makers who seek to create and maintain sustainable communities of youth participants

Chemical weed control for legumes and pastures

"Federal regulations on herbicide use change frequently; this means you need to keep informed on the status of label clearances. Labels include information on application restrictions, but they may not always be up-to-date on recently approved new uses or removal of previous limitations. We have tried to make recommendations in this guide conform to laws and regulations. Research has shown these recommendations to be sound from the performance standpoint. However, future developments in research and label clearance probably will require that some modifications be made."--First page.L.E. Anderson, E.J. Peters, Howell N. Wheaton (Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture)Reviewed and revised 11/84/10

Gamma-Ray Spectra & Variability of the Crab Nebula Emission Observed by BATSE

We report ~ 600 days of BATSE earth-occultation observations of the total gamma-ray (30 keV to 1.7 MeV) emission from the Crab nebula, between 1991 May 24 (TJD 8400) and 1994 October 2 (TJD 9627). Lightcurves from 35-100, 100-200, 200-300, 300-400, 400-700, and 700-1000 keV, show that positive fluxes were detected by BATSE in each of these six energy bands at significances of approximately 31, 20, 9.2, 4.5, 2.6, and 1.3 sigma respectively per day. We also observed significant flux and spectral variations in the 35-300 keV energy region, with time scales of days to weeks. The spectra below 300 keV, averaged over typical CGRO viewing periods of 6-13 days, can be well described by a broken power law with average indices of ~ 2.1 and ~ 2.4 varying around a spectral break at ~ 100 keV. Above 300 keV, the long-term averaged spectra, averaged over three 400 d periods (TJD 8400-8800, 8800-9200, and 9200-9628, respectively) are well represented by the same power law with index of ~ 2.34 up to ~ 670 keV, plus a hard spectral component extending from ~ 670 keV to ~ 1.7 MeV, with a spectral index of ~ 1.75. The latter component could be related to a complex structure observed by COMPTEL in the 0.7-3 MeV range. Above 3 MeV, the extrapolation of the power-law continuum determined by the low-energy BATSE spectrum is consistent with fluxes measured by COMPTEL in the 3-25 MeV range, and by EGRET from 30-50 MeV. We interpret these results as synchrotron emission produced by the interaction of particles ejected from the pulsar with the field in different dynamical regions of the nebula system, as observed recently by HST, XMM-Newton, and Chandra.Comment: To be published in the November 20, 2003, Vol 598 issue of the Astrophysical Journa

Examine the species and beam-energy dependence of particle spectra using Tsallis Statistics

Tsallis Statistics was used to investigate the non-Boltzmann distribution of particle spectra and their dependence on particle species and beam energy in the relativistic heavy-ion collisions at SPS and RHIC. Produced particles are assumed to acquire radial flow and be of non-extensive statistics at freeze-out. J/psi and the particles containing strangeness were examined separately to study their radial flow and freeze-out. We found that the strange hadrons approach equilibrium quickly from peripheral to central A+A collisions and they tend to decouple earlier from the system than the light hadrons but with the same final radial flow. These results provide an alternative picture of freeze-outs: a thermalized system is produced at partonic phase; the hadronic scattering at later stage is not enough to maintain the system in equilibrium and does not increase the radial flow of the copiously produced light hadrons. The J/psi in Pb+Pb collisions at SPS is consistent with early decoupling and obtains little radial flow. The J/psi spectra at RHIC are also inconsistent with the bulk flow profile.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, added several references and some clarifications et

Gamma ray monitoring of a AGN and galactic black hole candidates by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory

The Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory's Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) has a powerful capability to provide nearly uninterrupted monitoring in the 25 keV-10 MeV range of both active galactic nuclei (AGN) and galactic black hole candidates (GBHC) such as Cygnus X-1, using the occultation of cosmic sources by the Earth. Since the Crab is detected by the BATSE Large Area Detectors with roughly 25(sigma) significance in the 15-125 keV range in a single rise or set, a variation by a factor of two of a source having one-tenth the strength of Cygnus X-1 should be detectable within a day. Methods of modeling the background are discussed which will increase the accuracy, sensitivity, and reliability of the results beyond those obtainable from a linear background fit with a single rise or set discontinuity

Triamidoamine-supported zirconium: Hydrogen activation, Lewis acidity, and: Rac -lactide polymerization

Investigation of a triamidoamine-supported zirconium hydride intermediate, important to a range of catalytic reactions, revealed the potential Lewis acidity of [κ5-N,N,N,N,C-(Me3SiNCH2CH2)2NCH2CH2NSiMe2CH2]Zr (1). A preliminary study of 1 as a precursor for the polymerization of rac-lactide showed modest activity but indicated that five-coordinate zirconium complexes with tetra-N donor ligands may be an avenue for further development in group 4 metal lactide polymerization catalysis

Effect of magnetic field on the strange star

We study the effect of a magnetic field on the strage quark matter and apply to strange star. We found that the strange star becomes more compact in presence of strong magnetic field.Comment: 10 pages (LaTex) and 3 postscript figures available on reques